Crossroads
by May-Lial
Summary: Everyone finds that they must make some very difficult choices. Regardless of how this story is starts, this IS a Zendall story!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Crossroads

Suddenly, Greenlee finds herself locked in an embrace and being kissed by a man whom she had no desire to kiss. He had been gone for months and she thought he was dead. And now here he was, kissing her. The past year came rushing back to her all at once and she felt like she wanted to throw up.

Day in and day out she had to struggle with the fact that her husband was dead and she was a widow for the second time. She had to come to terms with the idea that Ryan was dead. It took her months to say goodbye to Ryan, the way she should have when the search and rescue workers could not locate him. She was finally able to lie to rest his memory when Kendall had lost all four embryos. Kendall was willing to try again with three more embryos. When the six weeks was up they went to see Dr. Madden to start another cycle of progesterone; he gave them the news that Kendall was already four weeks pregnant.

It was a day of acceptance for Greenlee. She never gave herself time to heal, and had decided to put off finding a surrogate for her baby so that she could finally grieve the loss of her husband.

And now here she was with him. She had come home and he was there, like Zach had been all those months ago, sitting in her condo, drinking Courvoisier. Like Zach wasn't welcome them, Ryan was not welcome now. And she stood there, staring at him, in shock. A whirl of emotions gripped her at once. She was terribly happy, happy that she wasn't a widow again after all. She was happy that he was there, alive and well. She was angry. She was mad as hell. She wanted him to be dead right now. How dare he? How DARE he fake his death and then so casually show up in her home, expecting a warm and gracious welcome? How dare he stand up, and smile at her, no worse for wear, and calling her darling. How dare he state that he is back, and is ready to be a family with her and their child? How dare he touch her and pull her close to him, to kiss her mouth. His breath smelling like the cognac in the glass he held. As his tongue invaded her mouth she tasted the caramel and chocolate flavored liquor.

How dare he?

Greenlee struggled away from his kiss and out of the embrace. She made a fist and swung at his face with all the strength that she could gather, landing it on his jaw, with a quick snap of something in her wrist.

"Get the hell out of here!" is all she could say when she could find her voice. He tried explaining himself, but she did not want to hear it. "Get out now!" She screamed again, her voice full of tears, but not because of him, but because her wrist was broken. He tried again to reason with her, and to take the time to explain himself. Greenlee marched to the bedroom and yanked back her bedspread and pillows revealing a gun that David had given her when someone had started breaking into the apartments in her building.

With her good hand, Greenlee grabbed the gun and stomped out into the living room, where Ryan was still there. Calmly this time, she repeated her previous statement. He looked at her as if she had grown a second head. He tried to tell her she didn't really want to shoot him. He couldn't get out fast enough after Greenlee pulled the trigger and fired a round just missing his head. "You wanted to be dead? I'll show you dead," Greenlee said through clenched teeth and fired a second shot. It landed in the door while Ryan desperately ran from the apartment.

Greenlee let her arm down, placing the gun on the coffee table. She thought of all the nights she cried herself to sleep because of that man. She thought of all the mornings she awoke to find that she was only dreaming of making love to her husband. She thought of the baby that she lost and the four that Kendall lost.

She picked up her keys and headed for the door. Her whole arm was screaming; just an extension of how her heart felt. She closed the door locked it. She takes the elevator upstairs and knocks on a door. A moment later she was greeted by Reggie. He gasped at the mean looking black and blue color her hand, wrist and arm were turning. "I think it's broken," she said tearfully. Without a word, Reggie grabbed his car keys and took his sister to the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

Zach held Kendall's hands in his own, trying to summon up the courage to tell her the truth. He should have told her months ago. He should never have agreed to keep such a secret. He hated Ryan. He could not understand what it was that everyone saw in that man, especially his wife. She had practically worshiped the ground he walked on, this man, who had treated her so badly. But she had been in love with him. As far as Zach was concerned, Ryan was the one that Kendall yearned for, even though she would never admit such a thing to him or anyone else.

He looked at her swollen belly. That was his child she carried. He would be a father again. This time, he was given the chance to actually be a father. He was deeply in love with Kendall but was afraid to actually say the words. One would think that after satisfying one another in such an erotic way and creating a child together, he would have bothered to tell her how much he loved her. Instead he had made sure to tell her how deeply in _like_ he was with her.

The truth of the matter was that he was terrified of losing this woman, this one true love of his life. She was the mother of his child; she was his angel. She rescued him from himself, thinking that he should not have a child, that he deserved whatever the devil dished out to him. She made him realize that he was worthy enough for someone to care for him, but not to love him.

She had told him time and time again that she was afraid to fall in love. She was afraid of the hurt and heartache that came with it. She had never told him that she loved him, and he was not the one to push the topic, for fear he may lose this tiny inkling of happiness that he had.

But it may still all go down the drain. He could not hold this secret any longer and cursed himself for not telling her sooner. The only reason he was sitting here now, holding her hand while she calmly waited for him, was the fact that he got a call from Ryan Lavery.

Ryan was done playing dead and he wanted to come back to Pine Valley. He was on his way back and there was no way that Zach could stop him. Ryan had told him he was going to come clean. He wanted to start his life over with Greenlee. Zach knew the way the people in Pine Valley thought, and it would be like Lazarus being raised from the dead. They would be happy to see this piece of shit and do anything to kiss his ass; all this, while at the same time they ostracize Zach for helping him play dead.

It was now or never, and Zach knew Kendall's patience would run out. He said a tiny prayer and blurted out this secret he had been keeping. "Ryan's alive. I helped him fake his death and stay gone."

Kendall snatched her hands from his and quickly slapped Zach across the face. "You lied to me, for over a year," She said, studying Zach's face. She stood up and walked away from him. She walked back and forth in front of him, pacing angrily afraid to say much more, for fear she would not be able to quiet herself.

Zach studied the floor, ready for everything she was going to blast him with. He heard her start to cry as she walked back and forth. Zach stood up and touched her shoulder, in an attempt to offer some comfort.

She jumped and spun around and screamed at Zach, "Don't touch me!" It startled him, the sheer horror in her voice. "I can't believe you, Zach. How could you do that to Greenlee? And to me? Especially to me? How could you let us hurt like that?" Zach started to answer when Kendall cut him off. "Just…" she said and took a deep breath. "Leave. I don't want to look at you anymore. Just go, get out. Don't come back."

Zach looked at the floor again. He felt as if he had aged 20 years just standing there. He slowly walked out of her door and across the courtyard into his own dark condo. He poured himself some cognac and sat down on his couch. He thought to himself that he deserved nothing other than to remain in the dark. At least in the dark, he didn't have to look at himself.

He grabbed a remote control and turned on his television. Flipping through the stations he found nothing interesting on. He muted the television and just turned on his stereo. He waited for the CD changer to skip to what he was in the mood to hear. He was in the mood to listen to some nice easy jazz, nothing too hard on his ears. Alex Bugnon(1) sounded like a winner. He advanced the CD changer and "Slow Drag" started coming through the speakers. He took another sip of his cognac and leaned back against the cool leather couch.

When he closed his eyes he remembered dancing with Kendall to this song. He had gone to Fusion to surprise her with dinner by candlelight on the roof. That was the night he and Kendall confessed their deep "like" for one another. It was the first time he kissed her for real, because he wanted to kiss her, no other reason. He made love to her that night on the roof. That is where he believed they conceived the child growing inside her.

Kendall walking up to him in his office at the casino, wearing only a mink coat and shiny black patent leather mules, flashed behind his closed lids. Another memory invaded his mind of her shaving him early one morning before he went to a meeting at The Seasons. The day that he saw their baby for the first time bombarded him and he downed the rest of his cognac in one big gulp, and then quickly filled his glass again.

Suddenly his respite was interrupted by the harsh glare of light coming in through the front door and someone yelling his name. He made no other move to acknowledge the woman storming into his home, but only to tell her to leave.

"I'm not going anywhere until I have my say, you self-righteous son-of-a-bitch!" Greenlee said, much too loud for Zach's liking and hitting him on the head with her purse. He was willing to take whatever tongue lashing Kendall had lined up for him, but he'd be damned to hell if he just sat and let her so-called best friend throw insults and names at him, along with bodily injury.

Zach stood up and came around the couch, ignoring her ranting about how he lied to Kendall and her; about how both he and Ryan were no good. He towered over her small form and told her again to get out of his home. She ignored him, which was of no surprise to him. Without a word of warning, he grabbed her arm just below her underarm, with her feet barely touching the floor, and dragged her to the door; much like a parent would an unruly child, and shoved her out. He slammed and locked the door this time, and once again he was thrust into the darkness that was to be his solitude for the time being.

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(1) A sample of this music can be downloaded and heardat Amazon Com, from the album "Southern Living" track number 8.


	3. Chapter 3

Kendall let the cool water splash over her face. It felt like she had been sunburned. She grabbed a towel and patted her face dry. Looking into the mirror, she consulted her reflection.

"Why?" she asked. "Why would Zach do such a horrible, horrible thing?" She closed her eyes and tried to think of a good reason. She could not find a single one.

Zach had shown her a side of himself that she wasn't sure he would ever show anyone else after Maria. He had been so attentive to her the past four months, but he had treated her like royalty, even before she told him she was pregnant with their baby.

She had been so afraid to tell him, thinking he would stay away, or leave. From what she was to understand about him was that he did not want any children, and did not deserve to be a father since he couldn't even make headway with his son, Ethan.

When he had found out about the plan for her to be a surrogate for Greenlee he was furious. She thought he would never come around to her way of thinking and then he surprised her. He promised to support her however she may need it, doing everything short of talking to her belly.

And he was true to his word. When she couldn't hold anything down, he was there with sips of ginger ale and crackers, or tea and dry toast. He wouldn't leave her side when she started to miscarry that one fateful night at the casino.

Dr. Madden had told her there would be a chance that she could miscarry all of some of the fetuses before she reached 3 months, so when Zach had bought her into the ER at 11:30 at night, it was no surprise to the doctor at all. The ultrasound technician confirmed that the retained products of conception were not viable and needed to be evacuated. Zach did the job of breaking the news to Greenlee because she simply could not.

She felt like a complete failure after that. Greenlee never said it, but Kendall had always felt like Greenlee blamed her, even just a little for miscarrying. This is why she offered to try again as soon as possible. Dr. Madden told her to wait six weeks before starting another cycle of progesterone.

She had waited the six weeks that Dr. Madden insisted on, and thought she would faint where she stood when he announced to her that she was already pregnant. Greenlee had just dropped into the chair behind her, stunned at the revelation. "Well, Mrs. Slater, I believe your vacancy has already been filled with a tenant," were the words that he used to delightfully announce it to her. He immediately offered Greenlee a list of women who had already agreed to be surrogates.

Zach had been working on the opening a new Seasons location in Cleveland, Ohio by the time Kendall had summoned up the courage to tell him. The new casino opening was quickly approaching and Zach had bought her a new dress to wear to the grand opening. She was excited and wanted to wear the beautiful royal blue silk cheongsam, but when she put it on, she could not fit it. It was time to tell her husband that she was pregnant. Three and a half months had been long enough to think of how she was going to tell her husband he was going to be a father. She wondered if he had even noticed that she was getting thick around her middle and now she had her answer.

She packed the dress away in a garment bag, praying that she will be able to get into it in at least a year. She decided that she would forgo shopping at Tower City and have a car take her to Beachwood instead. She had to get to a Nordstrom's to buy herself a new dress to wear, one that she could actually fit.

She couldn't help herself as she wandered into the baby department and picked up the cutest little layette. It was white with little yellow ducks on the bib and on the hat that it came with. She laid it down, and picked up a pair of tiny little white satin infant shoes and smiled to herself. This was how she would tell Zach she was pregnant.

That night Zach asked her why she wasn't wearing the dress he got for her, but instead wearing a simple beige organza strapless dress with the empire waist and matching wrap. "I have something for you, Zach," She replied, as she picked up the small silver and black gift wrapped box and handed it to him.

Zach had studied her for a beat and then lifted the lid off the box. Kendall was a ball of nerves and wrung her hands, hoping, praying, and wishing for something positive, that he wasn't angry with her for allowing herself to get pregnant, for not telling him sooner, for making him a father when he wasn't ready to be one. She closed her eyes and then she felt him next to her. She opened her eyes and he was standing much closer, with the shoes in one hand.

"Does this mean what I think it does?" He asked her gently and Kendall swallowed hard.

"What do you think it means?" she shyly asked not wanting to look him in the eye. He had stepped closer still and put his hand her belly. Right then she glanced up and locked eyes with him.

"Kendall?" She couldn't speak. She only gasped and tears came to his eyes. He kissed her lips lightly and then smiled at her whispering, "Thank you," and then kissed her again.

Kendall was quickly yanked back into the present when she heard Zach yelling at someone outside and then his door slamming. She laid the towel on the sink and went to the living room just in time to see Greenlee bursting through her door, with a stream of profanities coming from her mouth.

Greenlee looked up to see Kendall standing next to the couch, holding her very rounded belly. Kendall carefully sat down and Greenlee quickly crossed the room and collapsed next to her, bursting out in a fit of tears and incoherent babbling about Ryan, Zach and something about Reggie and her wrist.

All Kendall could do was listen and hold her stepsister. She wasn't completely sure about her own feelings and certainly wasn't sure how to speak to Greenlee about hers, so she opted to just let Greenlee talk and she would only listen herself.

Kendall did her best to listen to Greenlee and how she felt about this whole Ryan situation. Her personal opinion of Ryan at the time was no different than that of Greenlee's, except she'd never take a gun to his head.

When Greenlee started talking about how Zach was no better than Ryan, Kendall started to tune out and get deep into her own thoughts about her husband until Greenlee started pushing the D-word at her.

"Greenlee, I think it's too soon to be thinking of such a drastic step-"

"No it isn't, Kendall," Greenlee retorted. "We've been discussing how to go about you getting a divorce from that sack of shit for months now."

"Greenlee-"

"Kendall, you don't have to do a thing, I have the papers all drawn up for you, and I even made sure there was a clause for child support payments according to what his half of the casino earnings would be," Greenlee continued on taking a deep breath. "You don't need Zach, I will help you raise your little bundle of joy without being underneath the umbrella of danger that Zach naturally represents anytime he just walks into a room. You'll see, Kendall, your little one will have all the advantages of two parents and then some."

"Or not," Kendall finally piped in when Greenlee ran out of breath. "Look, Greens, I don't want to talk about this right now. I just want to watch a movie and eat that ice-cream in my freezer that's been calling my name all day."

"Ok." Greenlee said and went into Kendall's bedroom, "I'm going to stay here with you tonight. We can have a sleepover; just the two of us."

"Fine," Kendall said as she went to the freezer and took out the half gallon of Cold Stone ice cream that Zach had bought the night before. She grabbed two big spoons and started for her room, but not before turning around to go look out the window through her blinds into the condo that was Zach's. His door was wide open and she could see into his condo. He was still there, on the phone, with a business acquaintance no doubt. But it was so late. Who on earth could it be? She quickly let go of the blinds when she saw him go toward the door to shut it while he was still on the phone. She didn't want to appear that needy.

She picked up the ice cream and spoons and headed for her room without looking back toward the window again.


	4. Chapter 4

Zach woke up to Brenda Russell's voice, singing "_Piano in the Dark1_." He squeezed his eyes shut again and sat up slowly. His head spun, making him regret emptying that bottle of Courvoisier down his throat instead of down the sink. He didn't feel any better and he wasn't expecting to. He just wanted to drown his sorrows. But for the moment, he was sitting there, in the dark, drunk. He looked at his clock and grabbed the phone off the coffee table in front of him.

He patted himself on the back for having the forethought to have the numbers of delivery restaurants on speed dial. He ordered himself an Italian dinner, and threw the phone on the coffee table. He closed his eyes again and leaned back on the sofa.

He wasn't sure what to do about his and Kendall's relationship at that point. He knew that Kendall was angry with him, actually, she was more like pissed, and he did not want to be the one to push any more of her buttons. He really didn't want to think of Kendall anymore. He already missed her; he didn't want to start thinking of the possibilities of what could happen.

"I guess I should at least turn on a light for the delivery," he muttered to himself. He slowly stood up and cursed himself as the room spun and his head started to pound. He steadied himself then walked over to a light switch, turned on the outdoor light, and then turned on the lights inside the condo. He dimmed the lights inside making things a little easier for him.

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed himself a beer. As he looked at the label, and found he couldn't make out the words, he decided to forgo the beer for a bottle of water instead. He felt like he had swallowed a mouthful of sand and so he swallowed half the bottle of water in two gulps.

He leaned over the sink and shut his eyes again, trying to decide if it would be ok to take something for this raging headache he was getting ever since he opened his eyes. As he stood over the sink, with his head bowed, the CD changed to a different one. _Moonlight Sonata2 _crept through the speakers and once again, he was haunted by his memories of him and Kendall.

This song, reminded him of the evening Kendall found out a little not so well known secret about her husband. The Seasons had a black grand piano in the lobby. The pianist Zach hired, Misha, was under the impression that Zach knew nothing about music. Zach never said anything to anyone; he just smiled and told Misha that her playing was nice, but it could be much better. That did insult her, but she still showed up to do her job, still insisting Zach knew nothing about the type of music she played. She even told Kendall, not in so many words, that Zach was tone deaf, and that he kept making cracks about her playing.

One day Misha came to Zach's office and announced that the piano was not tuned properly, that he needed to call someone to fix it. Zach never looked up from his work; he told her the piano was fine. He started to wonder then why he even hired the woman. Maybe it was because he was a sucker for a pretty face who needed help. He was able to help her. She had two kids and no job, and he had a job she could do, sort of. He just wished that she would take the time to practice with some of the music she insisted on playing.

"Mr. Slater, I'm here to do a job, and that is playing the piano for the guests in your hotel; I can't possibly play any of my selections properly if the piano is not tuned."

Zach looked up from the forms he was reading. Tilting his head to the side he stated, "If you would practice the music, the piano would sound much better when you play it, Misha."

"I don't need to practice that music! I've been playing for years and you are the first one to complain about my playing. I'm sorry, but you're wrong, that piano needs tuning."

Zach carefully placed his papers into a file and walked out the office door, locking it behind him. He escorted Misha to the lobby and asked her to pick a piece, and play it.

She did as he asked. She picked _Fur Elise3_, played some of it and stopped, looking up at Zach. "See? It needs tuning."

Zach shook his head and told her she was clumsy. Then he was surprised by a familiar voice coming up behind him. "Well, since you know so much, husband, YOU play the damned thing," Kendall said to Zach as she came up behind him. "I would, but all I ever learned was _Mary had a Little Lamb_, with one finger."

Zach looked at Kendall and smiled. Misha stood up and waved her hand in front of the piano stool, "Please, Mr. Slater, be my guest. Even YOU can play that, can't you?" crossing her arms she grinned at Kendall.

Zach took a seat in front of the piano and looked at the two women in front of him. His smile disappeared, and without even looking at the keys, he started playing _Fur Elise _the way it was meant to be played. It was crisp and elegant and absolutely perfect; getting louder and then faster in some places, quieter again in others.

Kendall and Misha stood next to the piano both with their mouths agape. When Zach finished the piece he looked at Misha and repeated what he had been saying ever since she started working for him, "You, Misha, need to practice the music." He stood up and started walking over to the bar, calling over his shoulder once again to Misha, "There is nothing wrong with the piano."

Misha thought that moment was the end of her job and so did Kendall. Misha told Zach that she would have her things out by the next afternoon. Zach told her he didn't recall telling her that she was fired. Misha admitted that she had been so insolent toward him and she apologized. Zach told her to go home to her kids, it was late.

Kendall was impressed with her husband. She smiled at him and took a seat on a barstool while he helped himself to a glass of scotch after he placed a ginger ale on the bar for her. Kendall started stirring the ice in the small glass and looked up at Zach. "Why didn't I know you could play the piano, Zach?"

"You assumed that all I did was complain about Misha's playing without knowing anything about it myself," he replied and took a sip of the scotch. "That and you never asked."

"But I never even see you play that piano-" Kendall started and Zach cut her off.

"I play a piano all the time, Kendall."

"When?"

"Every morning, after I have breakfast."

Kendall's face transformed from a serene look to utterly surprised. "That piano music, that I hear almost every evening, that's you?" Zach winked at her and took another sip of his scotch. "I told you about it; you said you were playing, but I thought you were joking with me." Zach nodded and took another sip of the scotch and then poured it down the drain and washed the glass out. "Play a song for me, Zach."

He came around the bar and stood in front of Kendall. Taking her hands in his he studied her long slender fingers and played with the engagement ring on her finger. "What do you want me to play?" He asked her as he gazed into her eyes.

"I don't know. I've never actually known the names of any songs…" Kendall thought momentarily and then told him to play something romantic, for her. Zach kissed her knuckles and then led her to the piano. He hoisted her onto the top of the piano and took a seat on the stool.

A moment later, he was playing _Moonlight Sonata _for her. He couldn't think of anything else that was more perfect, befitting someone as elegant as his wife was as she slowly lay her self down across the piano and closed her eyes.

When he was done, he stood and offered his hand to help her off the piano. She looked at him and it was as if a dam had broken. Zach didn't understand what was the matter and Kendall bawled that she was sorry and she promised to start coming over to visit him from then on. To see Kendall cry the way she did just broke his heart.

He lifted her chin and told her it wasn't necessary. He promised that he wasn't angry about anything, and he liked going to her condo, it was more refreshing than his any day.

She insisted on coming to his condo, starting that night. She insisted it was terrible of her to be married to him, to allow him to take control of her body whenever she wanted him to, and not even know something as simple as the fact that he could play a piano.

When they got to the complex he stated again, that she did not have to come in. The woman was as stubborn as they come and insisted on going in. He turned on the light and then held the door open for her. She walked into the middle of the room and stood behind the couch, rubbing her hand along the cool black leather and looked around once again, her gaze landing on Zach. "This, it's you." Zach wasn't sure what she meant, so he just raised and eyebrow. "It's not him, Michael… it's not the same, it completely different," she stated and her eyes landed on the baby grand piano in a corner of the room, nearest his front window, and leaning against the wall, there was a large case that stood closed. She walked closer to the case and popped the latches on the side, revealing a lovely red finished cello.

Zach stepped in and closed the door behind him. Kendall slowly walked up to him and put her arms around his waist. "It smells like you, too," she said putting a kiss on his neck. "I'm finding our more and more about you, the mysterious Zach Slater." She smiled again and asked him to play another song, and that she could listen to his playing all day. She wanted him to play the piano again; she'd listen to his cello another time. His face lit up and he sat down and played _Fantasia4 _for her.

He liked Beethoven's music, but he really liked Mozart, too, and he liked to play that on his cello as well as on the piano. He took a seat and closed his eyes as he performed for his wife. She was so quiet that he wanted to stop to see if she was still in the room.

He had played the song for five minutes when she had put one of her hands over one of his. He stopped then; without speaking, she leaned down and kissed him lightly at first, and then with an increasing urgency. She started tugging on his tie and finally got it off. She followed with the buttons on his shirt--

Suddenly the shrill of the phone interrupted Zach's remembrance of that beautiful evening. He dragged himself to the coffee table, glances at the ID and decided to answer the phone instead of turning off the ringer and tossing the thing down again.

"What?" Zach spat into the phone rudely. What the hell did this prick want? Zach mentally ran down the reasons Ryan would even consider calling. The doorbell rang and Zach went to answer it.

"I thought I would let you know I'm here in town now, and I've been to see Greenlee," Ryan mumbled into the phone.

Zach tipped the delivery person and then pushed the door closed with one foot. He turned to put the food in his kitchen and then spoke to Ryan, "I would have never guessed by the way your wife barged into my home and started calling me so many ugly names. She has a lovely white cast on her arm, did you know that?"

"No, I didn't know that. She didn't have it this afternoon-"

"Did she injure herself shopping with that heavy charge card, or did she use it on your jaw? You sound funny, Lavery," Zach stated and started unpacking his dinner. He headed toward the couch and noticed the door was standing wide open.

"That's none of your business, Slater. She just needs to blow off some steam." Ryan waited a second and then added, "I'm going to need you to put me up in one of you suites at the hotel. Since I've been declared dead, I can't get to my money-"

"So, Lavery, tell me how it feels to be a complete and utter asshole? I know I shouldn't say it, but I will: I told you not to play dead-" Zach sat his dinner down and went back to the door, closing it and locking it this time.

"My wife is only angry right now. It's a lot for her to absorb, and she will come around, she always does, she still loves me. You don't know much about that."

"Oh, right, of course she will come around, because you're Saint Ryan the Everlasting of Pine Valley; it's only natural that everyone in this town sees the need to bend over backwards to kiss your hairy white ass," Zach said as he stabbed at the manicotti in the aluminum container in front of him.

"Slater, the room-"

"Fuck you," and without another word, Zach hung the phone up and tossed it to the side.

1 a sample can be heard at Amazon, from her _Greatest Hits _CD, track 1.

2 Piano Sonata no.14, a sample can be heard at Amazon from _The No.1 Piano Album_, track 3.

3 Sample can be heard at Amazon from _The No.1 Piano Album_, track 4.

4 Sample can be found at Amazon, from _Mozart for Meditation_, track 11.


	5. Chapter 5

Greenlee buzzed around Kendall's condo like a little bee in search of nectar to make honey. With her, was a box she took from one place to another, collecting things in it. There was the bathroom first: toothbrush, shaving set, sage scented soaps, aftershave. She collected things from other parts of the condo, humming merrily as she did so.

When she thought she had collected everything from the condo that belonged to Zach, she placed the box by the front door. She went into the kitchen and grabbed furniture polish and a polishing cloth from under the sink and went into Kendall's room. She started wiping down the dresser and knocked a bracelet onto the floor. She stopped and picked it up. She decided to place the bracelet inside Kendall's rather large jewelry box.

She lifted the lid and was tickled to find it played music. She checked the bottom of it and grinned, San Francisco Music Box Company, Song: _Love Story. _Greenlee rolled her eyes as she turned the marble jewelry box over and opened the lid. She lifted the lid and there right in the middle of all the baubles and trinkets, was Kendall's wedding and engagement rings.

Greenlee smiled, deciding to include those in the stuff box that she put together for Zach. She removed the rings and put them in a sandwich bag, humming the whole time. She started to go for the door when she stopped suddenly and turned around again. She went to her purse then pulled out the divorce documents that she had her own attorney draw up for Kendall and Zach to sign.

Smiling to herself, she picked up the box and practically skipped across the courtyard to Zach's condo. She dropped the box at his door, making a loud crashing sound as she did so. She placed the rings on top.

Just as she stood straight, the door was yanked open, and Zach stood there staring at her. She looked up at him, gave one of her biggest smiles, dimples and all and said, "Good morning, Zach. I just bought your things over as a favor for Kendall. There is no need for your things to remain in her home any longer," Greenlee chirped and turned to go. "Oh, this is for you, Zach," She said as she held the divorce papers out to in one hand, giving another big grin to Zach. "You will find that everything that Kendall wants is spelled out quite plainly and she still wants half of everything and that's not including the child support when the baby is born. She will, however, agree to limited visitation, that's spelled out in the document too. She simply won't allow her little dumpling to be influenced by any of your negativity and bad influence for any extended period of time. She'll need to have full custody, of course. She's finished with you Zach. How does it feel?" Greenlee asked cheerfully with that big fake grin on her face.

Zach stared at Greenlee for a moment, staring at the documents that she held out in her hand. He stepped inside his condo, grabbed his cell phone off the table next to the front door, then dialed the office at Fusion. Dani answered, then gave the phone to Kendall a moment later. "Kendall, it's me," was all he was able to get out when he heard her speak.

"I've had enough!" he heard his wife say, then nothing except the sound of the phone slamming into the cradle, followed by a dial tone.

He was crushed. He closed his eyes then flipped his phone shut. Glancing at Greenlee, he picked a pen up from the table, snatched the divorce papers from Greenlee's hand, signed them, and then practically threw the papers back at Greenlee. He picked the box up and took it into his condo, slamming the door behind him.

He knew his life so far was too good to be true; it was what he described as blissful. He was happier than he had been with anyone else in his life, including Maureen. He didn't know it was even possible to feel the way he did, until he fell in love with Kendall. He was on top of the world, in heaven. Didn't think it could get any better, couldn't love anyone else just as much or even more until she told him she was pregnant with his baby. Sure, he had Ethan, a son who hated every fiber of his being. Zach had fallen in love with this little person growing inside of Kendall, and he hadn't even met them yet. He had only seen 4d ultrasounds. That made everything fall into place for him. Zach always thought that there was no such thing as true happiness. But he was living it up until the day Ryan decided to return to Pine Valley.

Now, Zach would know what absolute sorrow was. Three days. That's all it took and his world was yanked away from him. He bowed his head, willing himself not to feel anything. He didn't have time to do that, ever. He took a deep breath and called a moving company to come as soon as possible. He even offered them double what they asked for if they came within the hour.

Thirty minutes later, Zach was completely dressed, waiting outside his door for the movers to come. He looked up at the sound of someone approaching and calling him by name.

"Mr. Slater?" The woman said as she approached Zach. Zach stood and nodded at the woman. He looked past her; there were six rather large men who were all falling in behind her. "We are here to assist you with your move, sir."

"Well, pack everything and do it as quickly as possible," Zach told the woman, then held out a piece of paper. "This is where you are to take everything. It's a storage unit on the other side of town."

"Your clothes, sir?"

"Pack them up. I have plenty where I'm going when I leave." he said then gave her the key to the condo. "When you are finished, drop this off at the front office." The woman nodded and made a signal to her crew, who sprang into action immediately.

Zach watched for a quick moment and then went to Kendall's condo and knocked on the door. Greenlee answered the door and beamed, showing off her dimples once again. "Can I help you, Zach?" Zach just stared blankly at her for a moment before he pulled out the wedding and engagement rings that belonged to Kendall.

"Give this to Kendall," he told Greenlee, dropping them into her hand. "I have no use for them. She can keep them, sell them, I really don't care anymore." Zach said and turned to leave. Greenlee kept on her plastered smile and said nothing; she only closed her hand, turned away, and closed the door behind her.

Zach got into his truck and pulled out of the parking lot. He headed toward the casino to tie up some minor details before he left the country.


	6. Chapter 6

Dani sat next to Kendall, passing her bottle after bottle, hoping she would decide on one of the designs for the new fragrance that was due out in stores within the week. Kendall felt overwhelmed by all the clutter around her and was getting very restless.

All she felt was the baby kicking at her ribs all morning long. She had not had a good night sleep in three nights. Usually Zach would be there to rub her back for her. He would help her to relax away the tension that had built up during the day so that she could sleep well at night.

She took the past three days, to cool herself down. She was outraged at Zach when he told her that Ryan was still alive and he had kept that secret from her. It took her a few days of soul searching to understand the reasons that Zach may have had to keep such information from her.

She was afraid to look at him for fear she may want to gouge his eyes out. She didn't want to speak to him either because she wanted to remain calm, not end up screaming on her end of the phone. She needed to take time to decide what she wanted.

Kendall really didn't have a whole lot of time to do anything as far as thinking about what step to take in her marriage to Zach. Greenlee had just invited herself to stay indefinitely in her home.

At first, Kendall didn't mind Greenlee being there. They watched _The Joy Luck Club_ that first night. Kendall stayed home the next day, and together they watched season two of _Nip/Tuck_ while Kendall stuffed her face with Cajun crawfish as Greenlee watched both her and the DVD in disgust.

Nightfall came and Kendall was sick. That three pounds of crawfish sure did taste good going down, but when they came back up… Zach would not have let her sit there and eat all those crawfish at one time; Kendall had thought to herself and cursed Greenlee for not stopping her.

That night, Kendall thought Greenlee was going to go home, but she plopped down in the bed right next to her. Kendall was hoping for some time alone. She would have felt guilty making Greenlee go home. Greenlee was in pain too, she thought. She had dusted her home twice and actually started organizing the clothes in her closet according to style and color; she had done the same with her shoes.

Kendall had pried herself out of bed earlier on this particular morning so that she could come to Fusion. She insisted on going in early even though Greenlee said she was going to go in herself at noon.

She had different shaped perfume bottles piled all around her and different designs to go on the boxes for each different bottle. And Dani insisted on going through the different models much too quickly for Kendall's liking. All the different colors and shapes and the glare from the light was starting to get to her.

Then the phone rang and she just about jumped out of her skin. Dani grabbed the phone and spoke into it and then gave it to Kendall. Kendall grabbed the phone and put it to her ear. She managed to get out only a _"Hello" _just as Simone came in shoving more designs in front of Kendall.

"I've had enough!" Kendall snapped and slammed the phone down without bothering to find out who it was on the line. She stood up and four of the glass bottles that were in her lap fell to the floor and broke.

"Kendall! You just broke those sample bottles, what are we going to do now?" Simone fussed waving her arms in the air.

"Well," Kendall started, "I guess that's four designs we won't be using." She told them and then looked to find a path out of the large mess she and Dani managed to make that morning.

"Kendall, you didn't speak to Zach. You're still not speaking to him?" Dani asked as she stood up to help Kendall out of the mess.

"That was Zach?" Kendall said looking at the phone on the OTHER side of the huge pile of clutter.

"Don't tell me you actually WANT to speak to that man," Simone chimed in as she put her hands on her hips.

"It is her husband, Simone," Dani said, "and she should speak with him when she's ready."

"Quiet, Dani," Simone exclaimed. "This is Zach Slither we are talking about. Husband or no, he kept the secret of Ryan's not so dead death away from her and Greenlee for months."

"And Zach is still her husband, she loves him," Dani argued.

"Kendall LIKES him," Simone corrected, "Although I don't understand why."

"I'm not stupid, I know what I see," Dani said stepping up to Simone.

"Well, you must not see much of Kendall, kiddo," Simone insisted.

"She is pretty hard to miss." Kendall looked at Dani.

"All you see is this monstrous baby belly coming at you," Simone said as Kendall snapped her head back to her.

"Could give a person nightmares," Dani stated as Kendall looked at her with her mouth open.

"I'll say. And I actually saw a footprint on that thing when she had her top up the other day." Simone said and Kendall stared.

"When the thermostat went nuts and was set on 'heat'?" Dani asked.

"Ok, STOP it." Kendall yelled at the two. "I hate it when you talk about me like I'm not even in the room."

"Sorry," Simone and Dani said in unison, "We'll make sure you're not in here next time," Simone added, Dani nodded in agreement.

Kendall grabbed her purse and waved goodbye to her two employees. She drove along the highway and decided to pick up some lunch at BJ's. She also made a mental note to break everything down to Greenlee when she got home that she had to go back to her own apartment.

She appreciated Greenlee wanting to look out for her, but things were getting a bit awkward. All she needed was her mother accusing her of being a lesbian again since Greenlee found a reason to spend every waking and sleeping moment with her.

Kendall ordered lunch to go from BJ's and then tried giving Zach a call at his office finding that all the calls were being forwarded to his cell phone, which happened to be not in the service area at the moment. She called his condo and all she got was more ringing. That was unusual. She figured he must be at home on the phone since she wasn't getting the answering machine. He would have gone to the casino by now. Then she thought to herself if he was at home, why then was his phone not in the service area?

When she pulled up in the parking space, she looked around to see if Zach's truck was still there. No truck; she must have missed him. She did spot a moving van though. Two men were loading what looked like the body of a piano onto the truck. The legs and stool were being carried by a third man. Kendall wondered who was moving.

She got out of her car and overheard the men talking to one another. As she got closer to the moving van, she got a good glimpse of the belongings inside just before the door was slammed shut. She thought the things in the truck looked a lot like Zach's. She started to get a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach.

When she got to her building, she saw a woman standing in the courtyard speaking with the president of the homeowners association. She smiled and gave him what looked like a small envelope and a business card. They shook hands and the woman started walking out of the complex, towards Kendall. She smiled at Kendall and nodded a quick good afternoon. Kendall slowly followed the woman back out to the parking lot and saw her signal to the men in the moving van. She watched as one of the men she had seen earlier hold the door to an SUV open to let the woman in. Kendall noticed there were three other men inside, all dressed like the first set of men she saw with the moving van. They all pulled off and Kendall felt like her heart was about to stop.

She turned quickly walked toward the condos. She tossed the food she was carrying onto the table outside her condo and fiddled with the keys on her key ring, searching frantically for the one to Zach's condo. Something wasn't right. She knew it. It was confirmed when she finally found the key and pushed the door open.

Eerie silence hit her like a slap in the face. The condo was empty. It only lingered of the medley of scents of sage, Zach's cologne, and the heavy leather of the couches that were once there. Kendall looked down and all that was there were the imprints in the carpet from where all the furniture had been.

Kendall closed the door and stood outside in the courtyard. She closed her eyes and prayed that he just decided to renovate the condo or something. Then she saw the President of the homeowners association come back. "Afternoon, Mrs. Slater," he said and smiled at her. "Will you be selling your condo as well? Or will you and your husband be keeping that one?"

Kendall couldn't answer him. She could only stare. He took a step closer and asked her if she was ok. She nodded and then picked up her bag of food and went inside her condo. She turned back to see that the man had put a lock on the handle of the door and then put a _Realty One _sign in the flower bed. He turned and saw Kendall standing in her doorway, nodded and bid her a good day and left.

Kendall closed her door. She turned around and saw Greenlee standing in front of her. That's when she noticed the smell of cake and cookies and pie in her home. "Hi, Kendall, I have some thrilling news for you!" Greenlee exclaimed jovially.

Kendall watched as the woman scampered over to the coffee table and picked up what looked like legal papers and hurriedly bought them to Kendall. "He signed them, isn't that great? I didn't know he was as smart a man as he is, and he didn't put up much of a fuss either." Kendall looked at Greenlee and snatched the papers out of Greenlee's hands. "Kendall, I know you are not in the greatest of moods, but I would really appreciate it if you would refrain from snatching things. I dismissed Zach from doing it earlier because I won't ever have to be bothered with him again."

Kendall felt panic rise higher and higher, and her breathing got more labored. She scanned over the document and realized it was a divorce decree, and that it was signed on the last three pages by her husband. She looked at Greenlee and yelled, "Where did this come from?"

Greenlee looked at Kendall and asked, "What do you mean, where did they come from?"

Kendall closed her eyes and said calmly, "These are not the divorce papers that Zach had drawn up when we were married."

"Well, of course they aren't, silly goose," Greenlee said and smiled at Kendall, "I told you that I would take care of everything for you. And I have. Cake? Pie?" Greenlee walked into Kendall's kitchen and picked up plate of cookies. "How about a cookie?"

"Get out, Greenlee."

"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you, I thought you just said 'get out.'"

"I want you out of here, Greenlee."

"Are you making me leave? After all I've done for you?"

"You are fucking up my life! I want you gone! Get your pies, cookies, and cake and get the hell out of my dammed home!"

"Kendall, you don't really mean that. You are pregnant, it's your hormones talking-"

"Just get out! Please, go!" Kendall begged as she slumped against the wall and slid to the floor and started crying.

Greenlee slowly walked up to Kendall and bent down to her, "I can't just leave you like this, Kendall." And she put her hand on Kendall's shoulder.

Kendall looked up at Greenlee and started hitting her, and screaming profanities at her at the same time. She wanted Greenlee to leave. She was hurting, and this time it was Greenlee's fault. Greenlee couldn't get away from Kendall fast enough. She grabbed her keys and ran out of the condo, leaving Kendall in a heap on the floor screaming and crying for her husband.


	7. Chapter 7

Zach stood on the balcony of his new penthouse, inhaling the deliciously sweet air of Rio De Janeiro. He admired the view, the vast white beaches that stretched for miles in either direction. The water was the deepest purest blue, making the beaches back home look like sewage drop off. He silently thanked God that he was a quick study in languages. He was already fluent in French, German, and Spanish. He was quickly adding Portuguese to that list.

He had been here only a week and he truly missed Pine Valley. He missed his casino. He missed his wife. He longed to hold her in his arms and smell the crisp scent of her hair. Closing his eyes he could almost reach out and touch her bare shoulders as she stood in front of him.

Someone knocked on his door so he turned to go back into the penthouse. He crossed the very elegantly decorated living room and opened the door to a petite girl with a short black bob. "Noite Boa. Está aqui seu correio, senhor." Smiling, Zach took his mail and gave a euro to the girl at the door. Her name was Ursula. She could not have been more than 5 or 6. Zach had met her father the day he got to this crowded city of Ipanema.

They were very hospitable, volunteering to show him essential places close by. They were his neighbors in this high-rise on the beach. Her father, Josua, was a widower and was raising his daughter with the help of an au pair. Zach had met the au pair, a teenage exchange student. He had not divulged much information on his own life to Josua, only that he was a casino owner and he needed to get away.

Ursula grinned and thanked him, running toward the penthouse she lived in. She was sweet. Zach found her to be amusing actually. She had come over with a gigantic cat to introduce him to, Lala he remembered. She wanted him to come meet her au pair, said they would make a nice couple. Zach tried to explain that he and the au pair would not make a nice couple because he was much too old for her. She was determined to be friends with Zach, showing up 3 and 4 times a day to color, show him her toys, or just examine everything in Zach's penthouse. Josua had apologized repeatedly, thinking that his child was being very rude to him. Zach told him she is a child and he found her delightful. She was welcome to visit anytime she wanted.

Zach was actually glad for Ursula's company. Her visits often diverted his mind from wandering to thoughts of Kendall and his own unborn child.

There were many times he wanted to pick up the phone and just call Kendall, even if she didn't want to speak to him, just to hear her voice say 'hello.' He wondered if she was ok, if she was happier with him gone. He had not even spoken to Edie since he had left. He knew she would give him a good tongue lashing, for running away. He deserved it, too.

He looked around his penthouse and noted the stark difference this penthouse had from his condo in Pine Valley. The basic color was different shades of cream and tan. Accented with tables of smoked glass and brass and brass statues scattered about. There hearth to the fireplace was brass also. There were various paintings on the walls, very simple ones of birds, or the beach. He had a painter paint one very special portrait for him while he was still in Pine Valley. The day he left, he went to get the painting. He looked at it now, hanging over his fireplace. It was copied from a candid photo he had of Kendall sitting on the piano bench in his old condo. She had her back to the piano and wore only his oversized silk robe. She was naked underneath and the robe was open, yet the only thing revealed was the smooth skin of her swollen belly. Josua saw it, saying how beautiful the woman was in the painting and then dubbed it a portrait of a Madonna. Zach told him she was a woman that he cared for very deeply.

-------------------------------------------------

Kendall was in her room in the dark. She had her shades drawn against the sunlight and the lights were off. She didn't want to get out of the bed. She had only gotten out of the bed to use the toilet and that was two days ago.

It has been a week since Zach had left. She had called the casino, asking Edie if she knew where Zach had gone. Edie had informed her that when she found out where Zach had gone, she would kill him. She had sadly told Kendall that she was delivered a set of Keys to a storage unit just outside of town, which she was to put them into the safety deposit box at the bank. That was this past Monday.

Kendall called everywhere she could think of. No one in that town seemed to care where her husband had run of to. She even called Myrtle, knowing that he often times confided in her and Myrtle didn't even know if Zach had left town.

She lay in the bed, wishing she could just sleep forever or wishing that she would just die in her sleep. She couldn't stand to feel the baby inside her moving and kicking. It seemed as if her skin had grown too small for the two of them.

There was banging at her door. Kendall had no intention of getting up to answer it. Who ever it was, they could just leave, just like others had in the past few days. All she did was turn over to her side and pray for the knocking to stop.

---------------------------------------------------

Edie sat in the office at the hotel casino and cracked her fingers when Marcus, from HR, came in with a stack of payroll checks that needed to be signed. Edie wished there was a stamp somewhere in the desk that had Zach or Kendall's signature. But Zach was too squeamish about people forging things. She had over 8 hundred checks that needed to be signed within the week. Normally, the checks would be divided among Zach, Kendall, and herself to save time.

When she returned from being off for three days, all hell had broken loose and she had to hit the ground running in order to fix things and keep up with her current workload, which had mysteriously doubled since she had been gone. She realized that she had to quickly come up with a new game plan when she found a copy of the storage bill that had been paid for up to a year. Suddenly, her boss and his wife was no where to be found.

She had spreadsheets in front of her that basically said that she needed to get another few million into the vault quickly because the first two drop offs had to be signed by someone with a key into the vault. No Zach, no Kendall, just her. She found out she had to be the one to reschedule and fly to Las Vegas and attend a board meeting that Kendall and Zach seemed to have forgotten about. There were messages that there was fire damage to the hotel area of the casino located in the Flats in Cleveland, and the hotel and casino were shut down until the damage to the hotel was repaired. There were people coming in for a political conference and someone had double booked half the rooms there in Pine Valley. She had 24 hours to decide if charges were going to be pressed or dropped against 3 different people who were caught trying to cheat at the roulette table.

She had taken care of everything within three days of returning to work, and things were running smoothly again. While she was at it, she had to recruit three of the supervisors to temporary managers. She took two days to orient them on what was going on as far as she knew, and what their jobs would be while they had the assignments. The bottom line, she was to have to last word on whatever decisions that needed to be made.

When that was done, she got on the phone and got hold of the pilot that Zach used when he needed to fly anywhere. She was given a flight manifest and found out that he was in Mexico. She had to do more digging and found out that he was sold a penthouse in Brazil.

Her boss was hopping planes and she was up to her eyeballs in problems. Damn him.

The next call she made was to Fusion. A woman there told her Kendall had not been there in a week, and to let her know that they were drowning in paperwork and other legal matters.

The next thing Edie knew, the door to the office was pushed open by a familiar petite woman. "Can I help you?" She asked and stood up.

"I hope so… My name is Greenlee Lavery and I'm looking for Kendall Hart."

"It's Slater, and you look familiar."

"I'm her best friend and I thought that she would probably be here since she hasn't been to Fusion and I can't get hold of her."

Edie arched one eyebrow at her and replied, "I'm sorry, but Kendall hasn't been here in quite some time. She doesn't usually show up here to do anything except sign payroll checks." Edie regarded the woman and walked around her. "When did you lose your best friend?"

Greenlee shifted uncomfortably, "She was going to sign and file divorce papers. She was at home the last time I saw her," Greenlee said looking down at her shoes.

"I'll tell her to get in touch with you when I see her."

Greenlee nodded and left the office. Edie called the pilot back and asked if Kendall was with Zach when he took him to Mexico. Of course the answer was no. She went to the safe, and opened it, finding the divorce papers still in the envelope, unsigned, untouched.

Sitting down in the chair behind the desk, she remembered that there were extra keys on her keychain that she never used. She pulled it out and looked at them, they were marked. She remembered when Kendall had given her the set of keys, for 'just in case.' They were clearly marked: Fusion, car, and home.

Edie locked up the office and let one of the supervisors know she was leaving. She got into her car and went to Kendall's condo. She had never actually been to Kendall's condo, but she had been to Zach's and she knew that Kendall lived right across from him.

She parked her car and got out. Walking toward what she knew to be Zach's condo, she wasn't surprised to see that the shades were drawn and no one was home, but she was taken aback at the Reality One sign in front of it. She stopped and looked to her other side and assumed that the condo with the mail piled into the box was Kendall's. She really didn't want to just barge into the woman's home. So, she opted to knock. She rang the door bell and then banged on the door-- and nothing. She pulled out the keys that Kendall had given her and tried the lock. It was a perfect fit.

Edie gathered all the mail that was in the box and on the ground and pushed open the door. She looked around and set the pile of mail on a counter in the kitchen. She turned her nose up at the molding pie, cake, and cookies as she grabbed the trashcan and slid the food into it and closed the tie on the bag.

Looking around again, she walked back into the living room, noticing something with a blue cover on it on the floor. It looked suspiciously like a legal document. She picked it up and flipped through it. It had not been drawn up by Olivia Cudahy or Jackson Montgomery. But it was signed on the last three pages by Zach. She tossed the papers down and went to a door toward the back of the condo that was closed. She softly called Kendall's name as she pushed the door open. No one answered. She called again.

She saw a form on the bed stir and she carefully walked over it, repeating Kendall's name. Kendall was there, in the bed. She clicked on the lamp and looked closer at Kendall. She was not in good shape. Kendall was thin, but now she looked downright bony. Edie grabbed the telephone off the nightstand and dialed 911, cursing Zach to hell as she did so.


	8. Chapter 8

Edie sat in the hard chair next to Kendall. She felt a bit claustrophobic surrounded by the wires and monitors. "This poor thing," Edie thought to herself. Kendall had been hooked up to a telemetry monitor, a fetal monitor wrapped around her belly, an IV going, and an oxygen mask covering half her face. Edie had tried to contact that Greenlee girl, but kept getting a busy signal. She had driven to the hospital and had gotten there just as the ambulance pulled into the bay.

She stood to the side and watched as the nurses removed Kendall's clothing, shocked at how emaciated she was. She had no veins to visible to the nurses who tried to put in an IV to counter the dehydration. She was close enough to watch as a physician took a scalpel to Kendall's leg, open the skin there and a minute later announced that "the cutdown was in place." Her skin appeared to be loose on her belly and the ultrasound tech announced that the fetal heart rate was low and that the amniotic fluid level was low, and there was very little activity. Kendall was very lethargic, and unresponsive to any stimulation.

And here Kendall lay, in the ICU four hours later, with none of her family around. Edie had called Kendall's mother, Erica, only to find that Erica didn't really want to hear anything that Edie had to say once she found out that Zach was her employer. She hung the phone up in her face. Edie didn't know who else to call. She tried finally got the number to the Fusion office and only got an answering machine. Then the nurse reminded her that cell phones were not allowed to be used in the hospital.

Moment by moment, Edie grew angrier and angrier with Zach. He should have been here, if not at the casino, at least with his wife. He didn't leave any way to get in touch with him, or even an address where he can be reached. Edie wanted to give him a piece of her mind. She wanted to beat him within an inch of his life for running away from whatever his problems happened to be at the moment.

Edie sat back in the chair and stared at Kendall. She looked so frail, so different from the woman who was often attached to Zach's arm at any given time of the day. Disregarding anything the nurse said earlier about cell phones, Edie tried calling Greenlee one last time.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Lavery, this is Edie. We spoke earlier in Mr. Slater's office."

"Did you hear from her? From Kendall?"

She told Greenlee about Kendall and told her someone needed to be there with her at the hospital. Greenlee said she would be at the hospital soon, and that she was just in the park a few blocks away.

Greenlee came into the room where Edie was, thanking her for contacting her. She looked over at Kendall and her breath caught in her throat. She whispered that she was sorry, in a weak, quivering voice. She went to the chair that Edie had just got out of and sat down. She looked at Edie and then at Kendall again. "I didn't know," Greenlee whispered.

Edie looked at her and replied, "Didn't know what? That she was as ill as she is? How were you supposed to know?"

Greenlee took a deep breath, looked at Edie, and said, "It's my fault. I'm supposed to be her best friend and I'm supposed to know…" Greenlee took Kendall's stark white hand in hers. It was cold and limp and she started to cry.

Edie touched Greenlee's shoulder and told her everything would be ok. She went around the bed on the other side of Kendall and brushed the hair away from her face. She leaned over and whispered in her ear, "You stay strong, and I'll find that husband of yours. He will come back. Even if I have to drag him by his family jewels, he is coming back, I promise." Edie straightened up and gave Greenlee a card with her contact numbers.

"Where are you going? Do you know where Zach went?"

"Brazil," was all Edie said to her as she walked out of the room.

Greenlee looked around the small room, hating the antiseptic smell and the cold unfeeling atmosphere. This was the last thing in the world she wanted, for her best friend to end up in the hospital with monitors hooked up to her. She looked at Kendall's face and noted how hollow her eyes looked. Her complexion looked sallow and her lips were very dry. Greenlee got up and went to the sink, wetting a clean face towel and then returning to Kendall, she took off the oxygen mask and washed Kendall's face. The skin seemed so loose, not tight like it was two weeks ago when Kendall finally let her experiment with makeup on her. Greenlee opened her purse and pulled out a tube of aloe lip balm put some on Kendall's lips.

Just then, the nurse came in and smiled at Greenlee. "You can put lotion on her, too, if you'd like," she told her. Greenlee looked at the nurse curiously. "It will help to relax her, and she does need her skin moisturized. Try the lotion on the table there." The nurse said as she checked the monitors, replaced the oxygen mask with a nasal cannula, and then took the printout paper from the fetal monitor. She looked at Greenlee and then said to her "She's doing better now, really. We thought we would have to do a caesarian, but she is better now. She's getting better," the nurse said to Greenlee before she walked out.

Greenlee looked on the table next to the bed and picked up the lotion sitting on it. It was plain old Lubriderm. Greenlee put some in her hands and started rubbing it on Kendall's arms. She regarded the bruises on Kendall's arms and hands and summed it up to the attempts at placing an IV. She worked the lotion in real good before she went to the other side of the bed. She liked that as she rubbed Kendall's arms, they pinkened up. She put more lotion in her hands and decided to lotion Kendall's legs. She pulled the sheets away from Kendall and stopped. Her legs were bruised, angry black and blue splotches on the once flawless skin of her legs. She slowly rubbed the lotion on Kendall's thin legs, being careful not to dislodge the strange looking tube in her leg. She pulled Kendall's gown to the side and touched her belly. It seemed smaller than it was the last time she had seen Kendall. It actually felt gross to her; she just could make out where the baby was underneath Kendall's skin. And if this was better, she hated to know what made the doctors even opt for a caesarian.

Greenlee replaced the gown and the sheets and put a small bit of lotion on Kendall's face gently rubbing it in. She touched her forehead to Kendall's and whispered that she was sorry again. She whispered that she was a terrible friend to her, and wouldn't blame her if she never spoke to her again. Greenlee just wanted Kendall to get better.

She laid her head on her friend's chest and started to cry. She felt so ashamed of the trouble she started. She promised that she would make everything right again.


	9. Chapter 9 TRUNCATED VERSION

It's dark while Zach lies in his bed trying to get some sleep. He tried to sleep but he was just too upset with himself. He wanted to know how Kendall is doing. He tried calling her, but all he got her answering machine. He called her cell and his calls went straight to voicemail. He didn't want to leave messages; he wanted to speak to her.

He reached over and clicked on the lamp that was sitting on the nightstand. Sleep was far from his reach for him so he just gave up on trying to get it. He grabbed a remote control off the knight stand then turned on the stereo. Bossa music filtered through the speakers, filling the room and putting Zach in a mood to get out, to see other places in Impanema.

He glanced at the clock, seeing it was only 10:30 at night, he got up and started going through his closet for something to wear. He had a maid pack his clothes that were in the VIP suite at the hotel. He started flipping through the blazers in his closet and stopped when he came upon the full length mink coat that had been packed with his things.

It was Kendall's coat. He pulled it out of the closet then took a seat on the bed, running his fingers through the fur on one of the sleeves. He inhaled deeply as he closed his eyes; it was as if Kendall were in the room with him. The coat smelled like Opium perfume when Kendall wore it. Her collection of fragrances was pretty limited to Fusions latest lines, but he was the one who gave her the Opium. She wore it for him. He was glad of it, too, because she did not smell like Greenlee, Simone, and Dani when she wore it.

As he inhaled the scent of Kendall's perfume, he remembered when she last wore the coat. It was two days after he first had sex with Kendall. She came into his office wearing nothing but a pair of black snakeskin stilettos and that mink coat that he had just bought her for Christmas. She came in with all the confidence of every Kane woman before her and then some.

Kendall thought she was going to surprise him, but he surprised her instead. As soon as she came into the office, he picked up the phone and told Edie to hold all his calls for the next two hours; not to interrupt him unless the fire is right outside the office door.

_**TRUNCATED BY AUTHOR**_

Zach opened his eyes to the early morning sunlight streaming through his bedroom windows. He had Kendall's coat across him, and there was Latin music now coming from his stereo. He clicked the stereo off then turned off the lamp that was serving no purpose now.

He stayed in bed for a moment longer before he heard the very loud banging on his door and a very familiar voice emanating from the other side. He quickly got up and went to his front door, dreading what fate was to befall him. The person banging on his door did not seem to be very happy with him at the moment.

He opened the door, and was greeted by Edie, who politely slapped him across the face.

"What the hell is wrong with you Zach Slater?" was what he heard her yell at him as stars flashed before his eyes.

To read this chapter in it's entirety, please visit the Zendall website, Combustible: combustiblezen.proboards54(dot)com/index.cgi


	10. Chapter 10

NOTE: My Portuguese SUCKS! I'm really wishing I had sent Zach to Peru or Mexico instead of Brazil. So, just bear with me and forgive my booboo's in grammar if you happen to speak Portuguese.

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Edie came into the penthouse, angrily shoving Zach to the side, muttering profanities under her breath. She could not believe that Zach actually flew all the way to Brazil to get away from Pine Valley. If he could catch the next flight to the moon, she was sure he would have taken it.

Zach held the spot on his face that felt like it was on fire. He looked over at Edie, who would most likely claw his eyes out if he stepped any closer. "You mind telling me what that was all about?" he said through the lingering pain. "If it's about the extra work at the casinos-"

"Shut up and listen," she said in the harshest voice Zach ever heard come from her that was usually reserved for incompetent workers or men who crossed her the wrong way. Zach figured he was probably a little bit of both. "The casino is not why I'm here, I could run that place blindfolded."

"Ok, so-"

"Shut up!" she told him again, and he put both his hands up. "You abandoned Kendall. I know it's not really any of my business what goes on in your love life."

"I didn't-"

"Shut UP!" She screamed at Zach and he sat down in the nearest chair to take the lashing he was going to get whether he deserved it or not.

"Shuddup," he heard come from the door. He turned to see Ursula sitting on a pink and silver trike blocking his doorway. "Bom dia!" the child said and smiled at him then waved at Edie.

"Ursula, you shouldn't be here now," Zach said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Shoudn be here now," she parroted back to him as she hopped off the tricycle and entered the penthouse.

Zach wasn't sure how he would get across to her, she only knew a few English words, and he knew plenty Portuguese, only not enough to explain to her that she had to leave because he was having a grownup conversation.

Ursula went straight to the pantry and opened it, pulling out a large tin can full of cookies. "Cookies," she said taking the tin to Zach so that he could open it. Ursula studied Edie for a moment and smiled at her then hid her face in the cushion of the couch next to Zach. When the tin was opened, she reached in and grabbed two cookies with one hand and two more with her other, giving them to Edie. "Cookies," she said and smiled when Edie smiled back at her.

"Ursula," Zach said as he closed the tin and set it on the floor. "Este é meu amigo, Edie."

Ursula looked at Edie, "Edie," she repeated then bit into a cookie. Zach watched as Ursula turned and proceeded to wander through his home, touching everything while she concentrated on chewing the cookie.

"She's my neighbor, Ursula. She likes to visit. The nanny should be by soon, if she isn't on the phone or sucking face with some boy."

"Well, back to what I was saying to you about abandoning Kendall," Edie said in a now quiet even tone as she watched the little girl walk around the dining room. "She needed you, Zach, and you hopped on the first flight out of Pine Valley."

"Is she ok?"

Edie looked at Zach as if he grew a third eye, "Would I be here if she was OK? NO she's not OK," she said placing the cookies on the glass coffee table in front of her then went to sit on the arm of the chair Zach was sitting in. "She is in the hospital, Zach, she is very sick."

Zack felt like his whole world had just crashed down around him. He closed his eyes and from somewhere deep inside him, he felt his heart breaking. He had done a terrible thing. He should have been at Kendall's side. "She must be so scared," he whispered.

Edie put her arm around Zach's shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "Maybe," she said and kissed the top of his head then held him tighter, trying to brace him for her next bit of news, "She was unconscious when I left, Zach." She felt him just collapse under her and start to cry.

"What have I done?" he cried into Edie's side. It hurt Edie to know he was hurting so much and she tried to keep her own tears from falling. "I have to go to her, now." Zach said suddenly as he moved to stand up. He moved quickly to the counter in his kitchen and picked up his telephone.

"I already booked us flights out of here," She said to him and hanging up his phone. "The soonest are tomorrow evening. We go into Panama and then to Mexico City. Your jet will pick us up there and take us to Pine Valley.

"Are you sure that's the soonest-"

"Yes, Zach, I'm sure. I checked more than a few times. I even checked different routes and that one will get us to Pine Valley the soonest."

Zach held on to the countertop and bowed his head. Edie took a deep breath and rubbed Zach's back. There was nothing she could do to make the hurt and pain go away.

He was starting to feel his chest and throat tighten; it became hard for him to breathe. Tears stung his eyes; he squeezed them shut, an attempt to keep the tears from falling.

Ursula entered the kitchen carrying the cookie tin and drowning in Kendall's mink coat. It dragged on the floor behind her; the sleeves were bunched up on her small arms. She looked up at Zach and burst out in tears, "Por que você está gritando?"

"Minha esposa," Zach said, looking at the little girl through his tears. "Minha esposa."

"Por favor não grite" Ursula said as she dropped the tin on the floor. She wiped her face with the hanging sleeves of the mink coat then put her arms around Zach's leg, giving him a hug. Zach looked down at her, and rubbed the jet black hair on the child's head. He should be home, with Kendall, talking to her belly; instead he was thousands of miles away, running his fingers trough the silky tresses of someone else's child.

A female voice came from the other room, calling for Ursula. Zach went into his living room and with Ursula trailing behind him. "I'm sorry, senhor," the girl said and then saw Edie come from the kitchen a moment later. "Did she interrupt anything?"

"Never," Zach said as he helped Ursula out of the coat and patted her on the head. He watched her get on her tricycle and ride it out into the hall. The girl apologized again then closed the door behind her as she left.

Zach ordered dinner for him and Edie and then called Pine Valley Hospital to inquire on Kendall's conditions. The secretary put Greenlee on the phone and she filled him in on Kendall's condition. Kendall been awake, but she was very depressed. He asked Greenlee to put Kendall on the phone. Greenlee tried to explain to him that Kendall was sleeping and that she should rest. Zach demanded that she put Kendall on the phone and all he got was a dial tone.

He would deal with that pathetic excuse for a woman later.


	11. Chapter 11

Zach said goodnight to Edie and closed the door to the spare bedroom. He went to his room and lay down on his bed. As he closed his eyes, every image that flashed before his eyes was of Kendall. Kendall smiling at him, kissing the dimple in his chin, laughing as he held her in the rain…

He drifted off to sleep, wishing that he just couldn't get back to Pine Valley fast enough to be with his wife-- if she was still his wife.

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Kendall watched Greenlee as she sat in the chair across the room. She wished Greenlee would just disappear. Why the hell was she there anyway, Kendall thought. She remembered waking up and seeing Greenlee hovering over her like she was some sort of science project gone awry.

Her throat was parched and she was feeling very weak. Her eyes felt like sand was in them and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

"Water," said when she found her voice. Greenlee quickly poured her a cup of ice water and gave it to her. Kendall took a sip and then looked around the room. She deduced she was in a hospital- only she wasn't exactly sure how she got there. Panic rose inside her and she felt her abdomen for that lump that told her she was still pregnant. Relief washed over her when she felt the baby moving around then she closed her eyes.

She recalled feeling lost, only she was at home. She had tried to remember what the last thing it was that she did. She recalled dry-heaving over the toilet and then going to bed. She remembered that Zach was gone. Then had she started to cry. Greenlee positioned herself at Kendall's side quickly to try to fix the problem and Kendall violently pushed her away, remembering it was Greenlee's fault that Zach was gone.

Greenlee had tried to plead with Kendall to get her to calm down, but Kendall threw the pitcher of ice water at her then proceeded to scream a string of profanities at her even though her voice was weak and raspy. The nurse had rushed into the room and asked Greenlee to leave. Greenlee went only when the nurse threatened to call security.

Kendall lay in bed crying softly to herself, wanting her husband to be there with her. She had tried calling his cell phone and kept getting the out of area message. She even called the Casino to ask Edie if she knew where Zach was, only to find that she, too, was gone.

The only person Kendall allowed in the hospital room with her was Myrtle. Greenlee was outside the room, she knew, but she didn't care so long as she did not have to look at her. Myrtle spoke gently to Kendall as she lay in the bed, crying every time she opened her eyes from a short nap, only to discover that the dream she was having was just a dream and nothing more.

Myrtle encouraged Kendall to eat so that she could gain her strength back and go home. Kendall had argued that home was no longer home. Her husband was not there and she didn't want to ever go there again without him.

Myrtle was at a loss for words of encouragement for Kendall now. She was so heartbroken and the only thing she could do was listen to her. Kendall told Myrtle what happened, what had led up to her being so depressed. It angered Myrtle to the point she simply refused to speak to Greenlee until she felt she could speak to her in a dignified manner. How dare that ornery girl arrange for someone else's divorce?

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Greenlee was sitting in the hallway looking through a magazine when a nurse called her. She said that a Mr. Zach Slater was on the phone, and needed to speak with her. Greenlee was not happy that Zach called, but she took the receiver anyway. She whispered that Kendall was depressed and that she was sleeping, and needed to sleep. Then she hung the phone up in his face.

Who did he think he was anyway? You don't tell lies like the one he did abut Ryan and get away with it, thinking it was ok to just jump back into someone's life when you felt like it. He was better off where he was, away from Kendall. After all, he did sign the divorce papers.

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Zach was fixing himself and Edie a simple lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato vegetable soup when he heard a familiar knocking on the door. He grabbed another piece of bread and cut off another slice of cheese to make Ursula a sandwich also.

Edie had been helping to pack Zach's clothes and heard the light tapping on the door. She got up and looked through the peephole and then went back to packing when she heard the tapping again. Zach yelled from the kitchen for her to open the door for Ursula.

Edie opened the door to the little girl on the same pink and silver tricycle that she had seen her on the day before. "Eeeed" the child said and gave the biggest grin. Edie corrected her and moved to the side for her to come in. She almost had a heart attack when I very large white cat appeared out of nowhere and entered the penthouse.

It was beautiful, and it had to be at least 20 pounds. The cat strode into the living room and perched atop the back of a recliner as if it lived there. It watched Ursula go into the kitchen, turned in a circle, then balled up with its tail over its nose.

Edie just stared and wondered what would become of Zach if he were to actually remain in Ipanema. This was the second time that Ursula had been over this morning and the first time the nanny had come to get her, just as she had done three times the day before. Her father came for her the fourth time. He was a very nice man and offered to show Edie around Ipanema while she was there even for a short time.

Edie guessed that Zach was Ursula's favorite person at the moment. He was so patient with her even though she didn't speak much English and he didn't speak much Portuguese.

Edie was in deep thought when Zach touched her shoulder and told her she could have lunch. Ursula was talking to the cat on the back of the chair, and nursing half a grilled cheese sandwich. The cat seemed uninterested in what the child had to say and only twitched and ear when Ursula tried to get the cat to take a bite of the sandwich. After a few moments, Ursula gave up and went to stand next to Zach. She watched him eating the soup and then she pointed to it.

"Soup," Zach said to her and then offered a taste. She opened her mouth and he gave her the soup. Edie stifled a laugh when Ursula made a face while she decided if she liked the soup or not. She and Zack both laughed out loud when she placed her sandwich with little nibbles all around it on the table and opened her mouth again for more soup.

Edie and Zach made small talk while Ursula finished off Zach's soup and her sandwich. Edie cleared the table while Zach went to finish packing his clothes. Ursula followed Edie around watching her every move and parroting everything Edie said to her. The only sure thing Edie was able to figure out was that the massive lump of fur on the back of the recliner was named Lala and that Ursula liked to eat the cookies out of the tin in the pantry and wander around the penthouse.

Ursula went into Zach's room and looked around at all the suitcases and boxes. She peered over the dresser and could only see her eyes in the mirror, and a shiny sliver key. She reached up and slid the key off the dresser and then walked to the front door. She put the key in, turned it, and was fascinated that the door locked and unlocked. She put the key into the deadbolt and awed at the shiny piece of steel that moved every time she turned the key. She fiddled with the key a little longer until she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

Zach came out of the bedroom and waved at the nanny as she led Ursula out of the penthouse and Lala jumped from the chair and loyally followed.


	12. Chapter 12

NOTE: Even though this is in English, let's pretend that everyone is speaking Portuguese, ok?

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Ursula lay in her bed watching the patterns dance across the walls and ceiling from the nightlight that sat on the night stand. Her dad was in his room and her nanny, Kiya, was in the twin bed next to her own. Lala lay just under the cover nestled against her, making Ursula warm.

She looked over at Kiya and then quietly got out of the bed. Without turning on any lights, she headed for the kitchen to get herself a juice box. Lala jumped up on the counter and sat there, licking her paws and watching Ursula's every move. Ursula smiled at the way the moonlight reflected off her shiny new key that she had proudly hung around Lala's neck with a ribbon earlier that day.

Ursula heard the locks in the front door tumbling and grinding. She tipped into her father's room and he was in bed, sleeping. Her little heart started to pound and she started to run back to her room when she saw two shadows moving into her home and across the living room.

She sat on the floor and pulled her knees to her chest trying to make herself as small as possible and hopefully the intruders would not see her. Maybe if she was very quiet. She watched as the two figures spoke in hushed tones as Ursula hid.

"You go stay here, and watch. If anyone else comes, kill them," the first one said and pulled out a gun. He put something on the end of it and then cocked it.

"Right, no witnesses," the second voice said and pulled out his own gun, then snapping a magazine into place.

"We were paid to do a job, and we will do it right. No evidence, no witnesses."

"You just keep it clean on your end, I can handle things here."

Ursula tried to hold her breath; she thought she was breathing so loud that they might hear her. She watched as the first man went into her bedroom. She heard Kiya start to speak, a panicked voice that called to her, but only for a second. The next thing she heard was something like a zapping noise then the first figure went into her father's room.

There was no noise from her father that she could hear, only the Zapping noises.

"There is someone else here," the first voice said, "The other bed in the room with that chick was messed up. Find them." The men started searching every room in the penthouse and when they were both gone from the living room, Ursula thought she could sneak out. She picked up Lala and then started to tiptoe across the living room when she heard a gun being cocked very close to her. She stopped in her tracks. She was so scared and she knew the man wanted to kill her.

Ursula turned around and found herself looking down the barrel of a shiny silver gun that was pointed right at her face. She was too frightened to move, her heart seemed to want to beat right out of her chest. Lala only hissed and Ursula held her tighter.

The man lowered his gun and grabbed Ursula by the arm, leading her to the door.

"Run." Was all he said to her as he let her go and went back into the penthouse.

Ursula pulled the ribbon with the key on it from around Lala's neck and then ran for her life down the long corridor with the giant white cat right behind her. She put the key into the locks on Zach's door down the hall from the penthouse that she called home.

She finally got the door open and she closed it tightly and locked it. She was afraid to just go sit on the couch. She didn't know what to do. She ran to Zach's room and he was not there. She ran to the spare room and Edie wasn't there either. She ran back to Zach's room and she needed to hide. She needed to hide so that the shadows would not get her. There were boxes and suitcases on the bed and on the floor. On the bed, there was one suitcase that was open and she got in it and pulled Lala into it with her, closing the automatically locking lid behind her.

She was safe now. The shadows would not find her. They would not kill her. She would tell Zach when he came home later.

Only Zach never came.

He and Edie had boarded the flight to Panama leaving instructions with a moving company toretrieve his belongings the next morning, sending them to Pine Valley.


	13. Chapter 13

Zach knocked on the door to Josua's penthouse and waited patiently with a porcelain doll at his side. He wanted to say goodbye to this man and his daughter who had befriended him during his short stay.

Josua opened the door, inviting Zach into his home. Ursula had been put in bed early because she had a fever and she was sleeping. He allowed Zach to go into Ursula's room and place the doll on the foot of the bed. He stood in the doorway and watched as Zach kissed his daughter on the forehead and then reluctantly turned to leave.

Josua wished Zach a good journey, and prayed that everything would be ok with his wife and child. He said he would light candles for them all when they went to mass the next day. With a heavy heart, Zach returned to his penthouse and told Edie he was ready to go.

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The seven hour flight was a long one for Zach and Edie. Edie slept for most of the flight while Zach stayed awake worrying about Kendall. He could not sleep even though he tried. He looked up at the screen that had been playing a romance movie earlier seeing that it had changed abruptly to a news telecast. The building they were showing looked a lot like the one he had been living in. He thought nothing of it because all the buildings in Ipanema looked alike, as if they were made from the same blueprint.

He started to try reading when he saw a picture of Josua flash on the screen. He scrambled to put on the headphones that were given to him at the beginning of the flight. He nudged Edie, waking her up so that she could see the broadcast too.

Edie groggily looked at Zach, who motioned toward the screen. She put on her headset, shocked to find that Josua and the nanny, Kiya, had been murdered only hours before.

_Rio de Janeiro authorities search for 5-year-old Ursula Mendoza De Soto, who may have been taken by unknown assailants after the shooting of her father and au pair late last night. Police have reported that Josua De Soto and Kiya Scottsdale were murdered while sleeping in the penthouse of the Ipanema high-rise. Authorities have questioned former girlfriend of De Soto, Marisela Sosa, who claims to know nothing of the whereabouts of the child. The mother of the child is deceased. _

_Police say the alleged kidnappers are to be considered armed and dangerous. Detectives also searched other homes in the building, and questioned the neighbors who were acquainted with the family in an attempt to find the missing child or get reports of any suspicious persons who they have seen in the area, according to a statement issued an hour ago. _

_Rio De Janeiro Police have entered Ursula Mendoza De Soto's name in the Interpol database for missing and abducted children, they fear that she may have become part of a human trafficking organization. Ursula Mendoza De Soto is about 96cm tall and weighs about 16Kg. She has short black hair and brown eyes. _

_The police have also been informed that the Ursula Mendoza De Soto has a serious condition that requires her to have constant medical attention. Anyone with any information at all is urged to call Interpol at 0-800-555-5001 or the Rio De Janeiro Police Department at 55-11-5555-3213._

The telecast ended with a close up photo of Ursula and the phone numbers being scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

Edie removed her headset and looked at Zach. He removed his and just stared at the screen until the picture faded away. "I didn't realize that she had a medical condition, Zach," Edie said then turned toward Zach.

"I don't think that she does; that was just added to scare whoever may have taken her into bringing her back," Zach said, and then closed his eyes, inhaling, and then exhaling slowly.

Edie touched his arm, "You have to take care of your own family first, Zach. There is nothing you can do for that child now," she said quietly to him as he opened his eyes and continued to stare at the screen.

"She's just a baby," Zach whispered.

"Everyone is searching for that little girl. All you can do for her now is hope that someone finds her quickly and pray to God that no one violates her."

Ursula's eyes flew open in the darkness of the suitcase. She listened intently to the voices outside, the shadows were back. If she held her breath, and didn't move, they would not find her. The voices were not Zach or his friend, Edie. There were strangers here too.

_'Where is Zach?' she thought while her mind raced with all sorts of terrible images. _

_'They've killed Zach and Edie too!' _

She closed her eyes again, frightened when she felt the suitcase being moved.

_'They found me and Lala! They want to kill us!' _

She felt the suitcase sway and then it stopped. The voices became gradually more muffled and Ursula started to cry in silence.

_'Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread…' _

She held tightly to Lala while she mouthed the Lord's Prayer the way her father had taught her.

_'My daddy is in Heaven with my mommy now, with God…'_

She held her breath again when she felt the suitcase start to move again. She could not understand the voices outside, but she knew none of them was anyone she knew. She closed her eyes and wished the shadows with their voices would go away.

_'Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus… '_

Ursula drifted off to sleep, as she chanted the words to the rosary and the Lord's Prayer as best she could, over and over again in the darkness.

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Zach unlocked the door to his truck then held it open for Edie as she got in on the passenger side. She told him to just drop her off at the casino. Zach did just that, and then sped off to Pine Valley hospital to Kendall.

He prayed, on the way to the hospital, that Kendall and the baby were ok. He didn't care if she wanted to see him or not, he just wanted her to be ok.

Getting suck in the freeway traffic wasn't helping matters much. Then he checked the armrest in his truck and remembered he had taken his CD's with him… and they were all the way in the back, unreachable to him now. He was forced to listen to the radio, to drown out the noise of other cars and their horns while he sat in the traffic.

He had actually forgotten how to use the satellite radio system and laughed to himself, knowing Kendall was right that he had way too many CD's and there had been no point in him getting this thing put into his truck. He turned the system on after fiddling with it for a couple minutes and then remembering the controls were on his steering wheel.

He wasn't much of a fan of R&B, but anything was better than horns. As he sat and listened to the smooth silky voice of some woman and when he caught himself strumming his fingers on the steering wheel in time to the beat of the music. He glanced at the screen, _'Ashanti-Only U (remix),' _and made a mental note to ask Dani if she had the CD so he could hear the rest of it, just in case he wanted to buy it.

It took him a half hour to get to Pine Valley Hospital, which wasn't fast enough. He walked quickly to the information desk, trying to remain calm, keeping his composure as the clerk there searched the computer for whatever room Kendall was in. Zach wanted to scream and toss the computer on the floor when the woman informed him that the system had locked up and she needed to call admitting.

He was grateful when he saw Anita Santos walk past him with her face buried in a chart. He called her name and she turned, surprised to see him. The look she gave him was a cold one, despite the frantic tone he spoke in. Whatever was on her mind, she kept it to herself and told him to go up to maternity on the 5th floor and speak to someone at the nursing station there. Zach quickly thanked her and ran for the elevator.

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Ursula was startled awake from a nightmare she had: the shadows chasing her with guns. She yelled into the darkened space, forgetting momentarily why there was no light. Her back and shoulders ached, and so did her bottom. She felt hot and sweaty, and felt like she was going to throw up.

She listened for a moment to hear if the voices were still there and there were none. She tried to push the sides of the suitcase apart and panicked when she found that she could not open the suitcase.

She started to cry, and bang on the sides of the suitcase. She started to scream and cry, for anyone to come and help her out of the space that had now become her prison. Lala moved around on her, making her hotter. She pushed Lala away from her, leaving her legs and arms covered in cat hair and sweat.

She screamed until her voice became hoarse and her body got tired, and all that was left was a weak whimper that no one could hear.

_'Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…'_

And Ursula passed out as she prayed.


	14. Chapter 14

Kendall stared at Myrtle, who was asleep in the chair next to her bed. The old woman looked haggard and tired. She had been trying to coax Kendall into eating something on her plate for a while now. The doctors had been threatening to insert a feeding tube if she didn't start eating. Kendall just didn't have an appetite for anything. She tried to eat, but she just couldn't bring herself to actually get the food down her throat. She allowed the nurse to put the tube feed up her nose.

It was pretty uncomfortable at first. Then she got used to it after a few hours. She was told she would still have to try to eat actual food. She pushed the piece of rubbery looking chicken around on her plate and then smashed a pea. She thought she probably wouldn't eat that food even if she were actually hungry.

Her mother had been in and out of the hospital checking in on her, bringing her little snacks that just ended up at the nurses' station anyway. Greenlee came back once and bought a hue arrangement of some very fragrant flowers that made her start to heave. Those were out at the nurses' station too. She told Greenlee not to come back.

Kendall flattened out the mound of mashed potatoes on her tray and strategically arranged the peas on top and the baby carrots around the sides. Maybe if she had food that actually had a flavor… She glanced up at the hanging bottle of formula and sighed.

She wished Zach hadn't left. She tried to think back to the day she told him to leave. She couldn't think of anything she had actually said that would have made him pick up everything he owned and skip town without even a goodbye. She would have stopped him.

But, thanks to her so-called best friend, her husband was gone. She closed her eyes and felt tears start to burn her eyelids. Her heart felt like it was breaking all over again. She felt hurt and despondent and rage and anger all at the same time. She flung the tray of food off the bedside table onto the floor.

Myrtle jumped; as she was startled by the loud crash the tray and its contents made as they forcefully hit the floor. Myrtle stood and tried to console Kendall, but Kendall would have none of it. She pulled her hands out of Myrtle's and gently pushed her away.

"Please, I want to be alone, Myrtle…" Kendall cried.

The door to the room slowly opened and Myrtle looked up to see who it was. Her heart felt light when she saw Zach come in. She thought she would have to tell Greenlee to leave again. She looked back at Kendall, who was curled into a ball on the bed, with her eyes shut tight.

Myrtle smiled at Kendall and whispered, "Alright, darlin', I'll leave you be for now, but I'll be back with someone to clean up this mess you made on the floor."

Kendall nodded and wiped the tears away from her closed eyes. Myrtle made her way over to Zach, who stood quietly, and patiently. She looked at him, touched his arm, and quietly left the room.

Zach tipped over to Kendall as she lay on the bed with her eyes closed; she was still crying, thinking she was still alone. He reached out to her, and gently pushed the curls away from her face as he whispered her name.

Kendall opened her eyes and looked up, to see Zach standing over her, looking as haggard and as lonely as she felt. She thought maybe she was seeing things now. She reached out to touch him, and he was there.

She grabbed him by the jacket he wore and pulled him closer to her, and pulled herself up in the bed at the same time. He was there, he was real, and she could see him, touch him, and she could smell him. She threw her arms around his neck and held on, not wanting to let go of him in this fierce embrace.

Zach wrapped his arms around the thin frame of his wife and held on to her. She felt so tiny in his arms, and so fragile.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I was so wrong to leave you the way I did." He pulled back and looked at her, her features a bit strange looking with the plastic tube in her nose and white tape on her cheek. Her face was very pale looking compared to how she looked the last time he saw her.

Kendall looked up at him, and into his eyes, "Don't ever leave me again, Zach," she managed to croak out before she started crying again.

Zach bent his head down and kissed her lips softly, "Never," he told her, and then pulled her into another hug, crushing her against him.

Edie finished looking over the reports and then picked up the telephone, dialing the number on the piece of paper that had take up residency in her purse since just before leaving Rio de Janeiro. It was the tracking number for the packages to be sent from Zach's Penthouse. He told her to just leave them, and not bother with them, that he would deal with all that later.

But Edie, being as efficient as she was, refused to leave things half done. Even though Zach said he would put the Penthouse back on the market later, she wanted to have his things moved out for him.

She had arranged for a company, Skynet, to finish packing his belongings and to send them to Pine Valley. It had been about two days since the packages were actually shipped. When she got the recording on the phone and put in the tracking number, she was surprised to hear that the shipment had been delivered already to the cargo bay of the hotel earlier that morning.

She was pleased with how fast the company worked. She decided that it was a well spent $4000 to have Zach's things delivered so quickly.

Two days, everything had been a whirlwind. Zach had come back to Pine Valley to find Kendall in the hospital and not eating on her own. That quickly changed when he went to see her. Edie had only seen her for a short moment, not wanting to intrude on her and Zach's time together. She left a small potted sweet pea blossom and told her to get better soon.

She had watched CNN to see if there was anything more on the sweet little girl that Zach had befriended while he was gone. The search for her had become an international hunt. The authorities had discovered that there was indeed a child trafficking organization being run very close by where Zach lived. People had reported seeing a child who matched Ursula's description. There was even a report that the child may have been found, murdered, but it was a child who just had the same features and was about the same age.

Edie made her way down to the cargo bay of the hotel and looked around for the boxes that were Zach's. She was sure he would want to go through them and get out some things when he had the chance to. She had four men load the boxes into and empty room inside the hotel itself so that it was easily accessible. There was so much that needed to be done so when that little task was done, she headed out to the casino.

-----------------------------------------------

Edie was talking to one of the bartenders when Zach came through the doors. She stopped him and asked for an update on Kendall. He was glad to tell her that the doctors finally agreed to take that damned tube out of her nose so that he could see her beautiful face. Edie informed him that she had his things taken up to an empty room just outside the VIP suite.

He was on air; his wife was going to be ok, the baby was healthy and very active, and neither one of them wanted to divorce the other. He had told Kendall about his time in Rio de Janeiro and his friends who had been killed, and the missing Ursula. She felt bad for them, but she was glad to have him home with her.

Zach opened the door of the empty room and flipped on the light switch. He was surrounded by box after box. There were four wardrobe boxes and two other tall boxes that were off to the side. He wanted to make an attempt to find his casual clothes. The boxes here were easier to get to than the ones in the storage unit on the outskirts of Pine Valley. He took off his blazer and tossed it on top of a nearby box and started the hunt for his jeans, sweat suits, and sweaters.

After opening one box that was clearly marked identifying its contents, he took a huge load of clothes across the hall to the VIP suite then returned to open another box. When he opened the next box, he was greeted by a terrible smell.

He looked around the box, thinking there was probably feces on the bottom of it, or maybe even a dead rat or something. He found nothing.

He started taking his clothes out of the box, thinking that maybe the dead rat or whatever it was had somehow made it into the box. But the more clothes he removed from the box, the stronger the smell got and Zach wondered just how large of an animal could have gotten into this box.

When he removed enough clothes to reveal the handle of the hard suitcase, he grabbed it. Thinking it was empty, he was surprised to find that it was heavy. He wondered what the hell the Skynet workers put into the suitcase. He got a good grip on the suitcase and pulled hard on it, bringing it out of the top of the box and quickly put it onto the wooden coffee table with a "thud."

Clearly, this suitcase was the source of the smell that now filled the room. He flipped the suitcase onto its side and pressed the two buttons to release the hood. When the hood of the suitcase popped open, Zach had to turn his head and gag because of the horrendous smell.

He turned to peer into the suitcase. He fell to his knees, stunned at the sight before him.


	15. Chapter 15

Zach felt a lump form in his throat and he couldn't breathe. How in the world did this child end up in his suitcase? He stared at the sight before him a moment longer then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed 911. It took every ounce of sheer will power to remain calm and in control. He told the operator that a child was in his suitcase, he found her, and she was dead. The dispatcher asked him was he positive that the child was not breathing, that there was no pulse.

He looked into the suitcase and closed his eyes. He told her she was dead, he looked at the cat, seeing the eyes still open with a sort of foggy looking film over them. He couldn't bring himself to touch the child.

Within 10 minutes of the phone call, a single police officer arrived and immediately contacted Chief Frye, who was there within minutes, accompanied by a forensics team. The medical examiner showed up a few minutes later because he wanted to make sure nothing was botched up-- after all, this was a dead child from another country and it was going to be hell explaining it.

When everyone arrived, Zach was still on his knees, staring into the suitcase. Someone asked Zach to step away from the suitcase, that Chief Frye wanted to speak with him.

Zach felt numb all over. He wished that he had stayed just one more day in Brazil, and then maybe that little girl would not be gone now. Then a little voice in his head asked what would have become of his own child and his wife had he stayed longer.

Zach didn't really hear anything that was being said around him. All he could hear was Ursula's tiny voice saying to him that he let her die. She needed someplace to run, someone to run to, and he wasn't there.

Suddenly there was a commotion that got his attention. He turned slowly, not actually hearing all of what was going on, but he did see the medical examiner take Ursula out of the suitcase quickly and lay her on the floor. He looked up at Chief Frye, who was now on the phone, calling for an ambulance.

An ambulance… ambulances are for people who are alive…

"Please, oh please…" he whispered.

"There was an accident on the freeway, and traffic is backed up for miles now," Chief Frye announced, "and the helicopter is about an hour away from here!" the man snapped his phone shut and cursed.

Zach stopped listening to everyone else around him and all the commotion going on, and touched Ursula's wrist. When he felt the thump of her pulse underneath his fingers he called her name. She didn't move. He called her name again, and still nothing.

Disregarding the child's physical state, he scooped her up in his arms and ran with her to the VIP suite, with the official's running after him. She was limp and warm in his arms. She was alive, and that was all that mattered.

He took her into the bathroom and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number, he called someone who owed him a favor, and who worked for the television station there in Pine Valley as an air traffic reporter. While he spoke on the phone to the reporter, he started removing the foul clothes from the child with the help of one of the technicians who came with Chief Frye. He laid her down in the tub and pulled the shower head down and started to rinse the filth away from her.

He knew it wasn't as important to clean her up as it was for her to get medical attention, but she was breathing, and she was alive, and he knew it would take a few minutes for the chopper to arrive.

He quickly cleaned Ursula from head to toe and another technician wrapped her in a towel while Zach changed his own clothes that were now covered in the same waste that had covered Ursula. Ten minutes later, his friend called to say he was directly over the hotel and going to land on the front lawn, where there was open space.

Zach wrapped Ursula in another one of his oversized bath towels and held her as he ran to the elevator, begging her to wake up.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Zach looked around the pale green, white and yellow hospital room and cringed. The room was very ugly to him, and the bunnies and butterflies didn't help. Ursula was put in a crib. He thought she was too old for that. He figured maybe the staff was going by her size, or maybe there were just no regular beds to put her in… maybe they put all little kids in cribs if they could fit in them?

He let one of the rails down and sat in the big chair next to it, noting there was no large comfortable chair in Kendall's room when he was there to see her. He stared at the little girl inside the crib and took her hand in his. Fat little hands, with short chubby fingers…To match the very juicy face she had. He was glad that she was still plump; that she had not wasted away… she wasn't in there long enough.

The door to the room opened as Jamie entered pushing Kendall in a wheelchair. Kendall thanked Jamie then he left. She pushed herself closer to the crib and peered at the little girl inside. To Kendall she resembled the cherubs in the Sistine Madonna as she lay in the bed snoring softly. She smiled at the little girl then looked at Zach. "So, this is the young lady who stole my husband's heart in a single bound," Kendall said as she looked from Ursula to Zach. He nodded. "It's ok with me if you want to stay here with her, Zach, I'll understand."

Zach looked at her and started to speak when she cut him off, "She is child, Zach." Kendall said, "And your baby and I are both going to be ok."

"Kendall, I don't want to leave you alone-"

"I know you don't, Zach," Kendall said as she stood and rubbed the back of her fingers against the child's cheek, "but this beautiful little dumpling has no one, and you are the only person she knows."

"But-"

"What if she wakes up?" Kendall asked, "What if she wakes up and she is frightened."

Zach thought for a moment, "This is a strange place for her. She doesn't understand a whole lot of English… She won't know what's going on…"

"It's settled, you'll stay here," she said and leaned over to kiss Zach's lips. She sat back in the wheelchair. "So, what's going to happen to her?" Kendall asked as she rubbed her hands over her protruding belly.

"I don't know," Zach said then looked down at Ursula's hand in his, "I mean, I guess immigration will arrange for her to go back to Rio de Janeiro when she is better."

Kendall looked at Zach and stated, "I thought you said her parents were dead, that she and her father were all the other had."

Zach nodded, "So she will be sent to an orphanage or a foster home…"

Kendall grabbed Zach's arm quickly, "No!" she said, her voice getting slightly louder.

Zach looked at Kendall in surprise. She just said 'no,' and he didn't understand. "So, where else will she go?" he asked her, keeping his voice even and quiet, hoping it would cue her to stay quiet. "She can't stay here-"

"She should stay here, Zach, with us. We have to keep her. We can't let her go back there… What kind of life would she have? It's enough that her father is dead, but to send her back to the place he was killed?" Kendall looked at Zach and waited for an answer.

"Kendall, it's not up to us, we can't keep her-"

"NO!" she said louder, with more passion, "I won't let you let them send her back there!" Kendall said then stood up, and then grabbed the handles of the wheelchair. "You fix it! Fix it Zach! I want her. So you fix it and make it happen!" And she pushed the wheelchair out of the room, leaving Zach in a daze as to where all that came from.

Zach sat back in the easy chair, and massaged his temples. He decided that Kendall's reaction to this child she had just met was due to hormones gone awry. He decided that he would give her a few days and she would come to her senses.

That's what Zach thought.

----------------------------------------------------

Kendall headed back to her room, fuming. She had threatened to smack one of the nursing assistants who offered to help her back to her room. She got to the nursing station and those flowers Greenlee kept sending were all over the place, saturating the air with the smell. Kendall started grabbing the vases of flowers off the nurses' station and throwing them into the trash, all while she tried to keep from throwing up.

The nurses all looked at Kendall as if she had lost her mind. One nurse opened Kendall's chart to see if she was on any medications that would make her act this way, and if there was something she could possibly give her to calm her down. The nurse decided to attempt to communicate with Kendall when she ran out of room in the trash for the rest of the flowers.

Kendall jumped up, ready to strike whom ever it was that disturbed her with the empty vase. When she saw the kind face of the nurse, she put the vase down and hung her shoulders in defeat. The nurse coaxed Kendall into the wheelchair and took her back to her room. When they got there, she asked Kendall if she wanted to get back in bed. Kendall wanted to stay in the wheelchair. The nurse then pushed Kendall closer to the bed and then took a seat in the chair and waited.

"He's going to let them send her back…" Kendall said quietly. The nurse said nothing. "She's just a baby, and he won't fight for her. He fights for everyone else. He goes out of his way to protect perfect strangers, but he won't help her." Kendall took a deep breath and looked at the nurse.

"Who won't help---?"

"My husband. The Brazilian girl, Ursula," She said and straightened up in the chair. "She is on the next floor. He's in there with her. He says that immigration will arrange for her to go back to where she came from… But she has no family there… She will be an orphan…"

The nurse nodded in understanding. "Well, perhaps, if you feel so strongly about it, you could speak to someone from social services about the matter, or perhaps your husband can do it. Maybe they will be able to help or to explain the situation," The nurse said with a small smile.

"You're right," Kendall said with renewed energy. "I think I'm ready to get back into bed now," she said. The nurse helped her up and assisted her into the bed, then handed her the call light.

"You buzz if you need me to come back, Mrs. Slater," the nurse said as she left the room.

Kendall grabbed the telephone off the table and started dialing. She was not going to let that little girl go back to Brazil without a fight.


	16. Chapter 16

-1

Ursula gave a big yawn as she arched her back and drew her knees to her chest, stretching her arms up and over her head. Then she realized she could not move her arms. Bringing them in front of her, she frowned, looking at the ugly fat yellow sleeves on her arms and wondering why they were there. She wiggled her fingers, and then examined the ducks and flowers on the ceiling. She decided that someone wasn't much of an artist.

Looking to her left, she saw a couple of machines making beeping noises and one that had squiggly green lines. In addition, she had strings on her chest… There was a window, and a teddy bear, and… bars. Bars? She turned to her right to find an empty chair with a blanket thrown on it and more bars on the other side of her cage.

Rolling herself over onto her tummy and then sitting up, she looked around to see bars surrounded her. A cage? No, not a cage, she decided when she saw the pillow and blanket next to her. A bed. An ugly blue bed… an ugly blue bed with bars. And she was supposed to stay here…

Ursula stood up in the bed, grabbed hold of the top of the railing, and shook it. It wouldn't budge. She decided since she couldn't get out like that, she would simply climb out of the ugly bed. She moved around the bed and added the adjective 'noisy' to the list as the mattress made crinkly noise under her feet.

Lifting her leg, she tried to hook her foot on the top of the rail. She didn't have a very good grip with her hands, but she tried. Suddenly, the noisy bed moved, and the leg she was standing on slipped through two of the bars as she bumped her forehead and fell back onto the mattress.

Ursula was frustrated now. She had an owie on her forehead and couldn't reach it to rub the hurt away. Her leg was hanging through the cold bars, and she couldn't get it out. Now all she could do was look at the ugly duck painted on the ceiling.

She lay like that for what seemed like forever to her. She opened her mouth and called out for help. She grabbed the pillow and threw it out of the bed, but not before it landed in her face four times making her angrier. She grabbed at the blanket and threw it out of the bed… well, she tried and couldn't, so she pushed it through the bars.

The door opened quietly and someone came into the room. A fat woman with a bunch of curly hair… she looked like Zach's Madonna…Ursula's eyes got big as the woman smiled as she spoke to her. The woman pushed Ursula's leg back through the bars and then as if like magic, the bars disappeared and the woman took off the yellow sleeves.

-----------------------------

Kendall smiled at Ursula then pressed the call button for the nurse. She gathered the girl in her arms and hugged her close, drowning in the sweet smell of he child's hair. She sat down with her in the chair that had been occupied by Zach earlier. Kendall studied Ursula's face, as she caressed her cheeks and ran her fingers through the large thick curls. Ursula simply stared back at Kendall with her eyes big.

The nurse came in, took Ursula's vital signs, and then told Kendall that the doctor wanted to start her off on clear liquids. Then she left to order a tray for Ursula.

A short time later, Zach had come to Ursula's room and she couldn't get to him fast enough, almost knocking over the tray of bland broth and gelatin that she really didn't want. He picked her up, giving her a tight hug, and kissed her on her cheeks. Ursula hugged him back as hard as she could. Kendall stayed seated in the large chair while Zach bent down to her and kissed her so intimately that it made Ursula smile and blush while she got the up-close view of it.

Zach and Kendall laughed at Ursula when she buried her face in Zach's shoulder and pushed her hand between their mouths, saying, "Ok, Ok," trying to do away with the sight of them kissing.

Kendall insisted on staying with Zach and Ursula when visiting hours ended. The nurse and one of the aides pushed an extra easy chair into the room for her so that she did not have to sit on one of the hard plastic chairs that were in the hallway.

Ursula was fascinated with the different people and their uniforms as they came in and out of her room later in the evening. One woman had on a white top with Sponge Bob all over. A man came in with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck all over his top.

She found comfort as she lay on Zach and listened to his heartbeat and the sound of his voice as it hummed in his chest whenever he spoke. He had waited until Kendall had gone to sleep before he got on his cell phone.

"Edie," Zach whispered into the cell phone as he shifted Ursula on his chest. Ursula looked up at him with her eyes wide, saying Edie's name loudly. He put one finger in front of his lips, to signal her to be quiet and she copied him adding a "Shh," and smiling. "Edie, I need some food here, I'm starving!" he said into the phone and glancing over at Kendall.

"Well, I'm on my way home," Edie said to him as she walked out of the casino and to her car, "I guess I like you enough to bring you food."

"Think you can pick up a burger for me?"

"Sure, where from?"

"I don't care, get something from BJ's, you know what I like," he whispered.

"What about Kendall?"

"She's sleeping, and she said that she ate before I got here, but I never did get to eat."

"Eat!" Ursula piped in, a little too loudly for Zach's liking. He glanced over at Kendall and saw she had not stirred.

"Shh!" he whispered loudly to Ursula as she grabbed at the phone.

"Eat!" she whined into the telephone even louder this time.

"Ursula," Zach said sternly, looking her in the eye, and taking the phone from her. "Bring some chicken fingers for Ursula please." He and Edie exchanged a few more words, and then he snapped the phone shut and looked at Ursula. She was crying, and his heart sank.

She was hungry and thought he was going to let her stay hungry. He wiped away her tears with his thumb and saw her chin start to shake. Glancing at Kendall, who had not stirred, he stood with Ursula in his arms. He moved to the door and pushed it open, walking out into the hallway.

He walked a little ways down the hall trying to comfort and quiet Ursula when an aid walked up to him with a blanket. He draped it over her and started to speak softly to her. He told her a story about a dog he had when he was little, he recited silly nursery rhymes to her, even though she couldn't understand him, but she seemed to calm down enough to parrot him as she had done when they were in Rio de Janeiro.

She studied his face and dragged her finger across the stubble along his jaw. "Owie?" she asked him and he shook his head no. She touched the purple area on her forehead and said, "My owie."

Zach walked up and down the hall on the unit with Ursula while the nurse and the aid watched them. He listened intently to Ursula as she talked about something that happened earlier that day from what he could understand. Something about the bed and she kept pointing to the bruise on her forehead. She found it amusing that he kept kissing her for head every time she pointed to it and so did the nurse and the aid.

The elevator doors opened and they watched Edie walk in carrying a large white bag. She gave the food to Zach and smiled as Ursula kissed her on the cheek, calling her "EED" again. Edie didn't correct her. If that is what this child wanted to call her, then so be it. At least she was around to butcher her name.

Zach went back into Ursula's room and pulled the tray table up to the chair he and Ursula were sitting in, and quietly took the food out of the bag. He had to give it to Edie, she did better than BJ's, she went to Chilis. He smiled as he peered into the bag with all the food; she even got a giant cookie for Ursula. His stomach began to rumble as he uncovered the big mouth burger and onion peels for himself and put a very large soda on the table. He uncovered the long chicken strips and seasoned fries for Ursula. "I guess we will have to share the soda, Ursula." He said as she reached for the plastic cup that was almost as large as her torso.

She drank from it until her eyes squeezed shut and she shivered, letting go of the straw, "Soooo-da" she growled and reached for the cup again as Zach put it back on the table.

"Eat," Zach told her and handed her one of her chicken strips.

"Eat," Ursula growled, and started eating the chicken while she watched Zach eat his burger. They were both quiet, careful not to wake Kendall.

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Kendall woke up and glanced around the room. By the eerie glow of the television, Kendall could see Ursula and Zach sleeping in the recliner next to her. They looked so sweet together, she thought as she smiled at the two of them. She sat up and looked around the room.

Getting up, she started to clear away the trash on the table next to Zach's chair. She thought to herself that he sure did eat a lot… she saw the half-eaten chicken strips and it looked like the fries had been picked over. Then she saw the second tray with some shreds of lettuce and what looked like dipping sauce in a cup and one battered onion peel. She stood up straight and stared at the empty trays in front of her then spun to look at Zach and Ursula again.

He fed her solid food! Kendall began to panic. She quickly put the bag down and headed out of then door and to the nurses station. The nurse looked at her and smiled. "Mendoza De Soto," Kendall said and pointed with her thumb down the hall, "Did the doctor say it was ok for her to have solid food now?" Kendall asked, as she tried to remain calm.

"Let me check for you, dear," she told Kendall, who was starting to fidget with her fingers. The nurse flipped open a chart and flipped a couple pages scanning them quickly. "No, no, she is still on clear liquids, as of this afternoon…"

"My husband fed her while I was sleeping!" Kendall said in a high-pitched voice, then bringing her voice back to a whisper, "What if she gets sick?"

The nurse flipped through a different section of the chart and then said more to herself, "She is in here for-- mild malnutrition, dehydration… at risk for re-feeding syndrome…" the nurse harrumphed and mumbled to herself something about exaggerating a care plan. Then she looked up at Kendall, who was looked as if she would crawl right out of her skin. She decided Kendall was just a frantic mother who needed to be re-assured. She grabbed her stethoscope and a thermometer and got up to go check on the child, even though she was sure she was probably fine.

As the nurse entered the room, she could smell the remnants of what must have been dinner for the two sleeping in the chair across the room. She clicked on the dim light near the head of the bed and then touched Zach on the arm. He grunted. "Sir, I need to check little missy's vitals now," she spoke calmly, hoping that the woman would just calm herself down.

Zach peeled one eye open and looked at the nurse in the blue uniform. She smiled at him and held up her thermometer and stethoscope. Nodding, he pulled Ursula's hair from her ear while the nurse took her temperature then went about getting her pulse, her respiration, and then her blood pressure, which woke Ursula up.

Ursula gave her an ugly look. She removed the cuff after she got the blood pressure then looked Ursula in the eye, "Sweetie, are you in any pain?"

Zach thought for a moment and then said, "Está você na dor, Ursula?"

"No," she replied and then lifted her head and looked around the room, spotting the large cup of soda still on the table, "Soooo-da." Then she dropped her head on Zach's chest again, and started to go back to sleep.

Kendall looked at the nurse, who seemed to be ignoring her now, as she walked out of the room and back to the nurses' station. Kendall followed, wondering if she was the only one concerned about that little girl's health.

She watched as the nurse jotted something in the chart that she had left on the desk earlier and then made a note somewhere else. She glanced at her watch and then picked up the telephone. Kendall stood there, getting angrier as she was being ignored.

She listened as the nurse gave her name and left a message concerning Ursula. She told why she was there, and then said "the child's guardian" was worried about her husband feeding her solid foods when it wasn't ordered. She mentioned that she checked on the child and that she seemed to have handled the food fairly well, gave the vitals and said that Ursula said she was not in pain--then she turned over and went to sleep.

"Miss--" the nurse looked down at the chart again, "Mrs. Slater? I just left a message for the physician. Just watch her and tell me if she has any discomfort or nausea or vomiting." Kendall didn't budge. "Kid's are pretty resilient nowadays, Mrs. Slater. The doctor may just change her diet to solids if she makes it to morning without any incidents."

"You think so?" Kendall said, still fidgeting with her fingers.

"This happens all the time, and it's usually mothers who worry about it and Fathers who don't give a second thought to a child's diet. Her doctor is used to it." The nurse reassured Kendall, and then added, "Just be glad she wasn't NPO!"

"NPO?"

"Nil per os-- Nothing by mouth… the things that go wrong with THAT order when no one pays attention!" the nurse said as she closed the chart and put it back on the shelf. She started to go down the hall with her med cart, "Is there anything else you need?"

Kendall shook her head and headed back to the room. When she got there, Zach and Ursula were snoring again. Kendall threw away the empty trays then covered Ursula with a blanket.

She sat down in the chair and watched the two sleeping. She closed her eyes herself, and dreamt of the beautiful family that they would all make together.


	17. Chapter 17

-1Kendall entered the lounge area of the casino and looked around for Zach and Ursula. It had been six weeks since Ursula had been released from the hospital and Kendall already couldn't imagine being without her. Zach was working on purchasing a house on the lake, or maybe a penthouse in the city. Kendall only wanted 4 bedrooms and didn't care what form they came in.

Ursula had not made the adjustment completely trouble free though. She would have nightmares every single night and wake up screaming and crying. Usually, either she or Zach would go into the spare room and sleep with her, or simply bring Ursula into the bed with them. They did a lot of the latter.

Soon, they just got to the point where they didn't even bother putting Ursula in the spare room. Nothing worked, stuffed toys, nightlights, lullaby's playing softly… Every single night she would wake up frightened. She was back in the suitcase again.

When she was in the bed with them, they found she would reach for one of them and then she was able to calm herself down without waking them. Kendall noticed this when she happened to be awake one night and felt as Ursula jerked awake, breathing rapidly, and then reaching out in the dark, she found Kendall's arm, then threw her own arm around Kendall's large belly and went back to sleep.

They had been sending Ursula to a shrink twice a week and it did not seem to help matters at all, it only seemed to help to make the doctor's pockets fatter. They had found one shrink who swore by a method called "rebirthing." When Zach and Kendall saw a video of how it was done, they couldn't get Ursula away fast enough. That therapy session ended with a trip to Toys R Us and dinner at Chuck E Cheese.

Smiling to herself, she turned around to the bar and ordered a ginger ale. Jack had started the wheels turning to make Ursula legally hers and Zach's child. For the moment, they were only her guardians. Soon they would be parents to not only one child, but two.

She sipped the ginger ale with the cherries in the bottom as she walked closer to where Zach and Ursula were, when Edie stopped her, to ask how she was doing. They made small talk, discussing how Zach has become all Ursula all the time. How he seemed happier lately. Edie said it was because of her, the baby on the way, and Ursula: he had a family.

Edie mentioned to Kendall that Ethan had come by, that he found it ironic that Zach wanted to be a father to a child that wasn't even his, but he didn't want to be a father to him. Edith told Kendall about the whole conversation since she just happened to be in Zach's office taking notes.

She spoke about how she just could not wrap her mind around how jealous Ethan sounded to her, jealous of a five-year-old and a baby that wasn't even born yet. She said that she would have thought he would want to try and join in Zach's life now, just to get to have a relationship with his baby brother or sister. Then Edie got a call and had to take it. Excusing herself, she left Kendall standing alone in the lounge area.

Ursula waved at Kendall as Kendall watched Zach carry her over to a group of business men, showing her off. He seemed to be enjoying the daddy role better than even she would have ever thought. He had fallen in love with Ursula just as she had the first time she saw her.

Kendall started to become attached to all the little moments with her. When Kendall would put her makeup on, Ursula insisted on kissing Kendall's lips when she was done so that she could get the lipstick on her own lips. She thought is was sweet the way she insisted on having perfume on like Kendall's. It completely tickled her, the way Ursula would fuss at Simone and Dani when they would take things from her, like the basket of lip gloss, or samples of the fusion perfume, and once even Simone's sequined purse, and they would be naïve enough to argue back at her…

Erica would be very proud of Ursula, a true diva in the making.

When Zach and Ursula would sit in bed each morning while Zach taught her English, she enjoyed eavesdropping on them. She had read that children Ursula's age picked up things such as language quickly at her age. It was amazing to her. She had learned colors and the names of objects. She certainly liked to say "cookie," and eat them too. She learned what potty meant really fast. She also learned how to say "Dance, dance revolution" "righteous," and "sweet," thanks to Reggie.

Lily had made dinner and wanted everyone to come over. Zach sent flowers for Lily, apologizing for not being able to make it. Kendall went, and took Ursula with her. Jack had only told Erica about Kendall and Zach wanting to adopt her, they had never actually met her until that night.

She had dressed Ursula in a set of denim overalls with a pink and white gingham shirt with a hair bow to match, and a pair of white Keds on her feet with little "Zoë" heads on the laces. Ursula was proud of the "Zoë" heads on her shoes.

Erica had gushed all over Ursula when they came, making her cringe and cling to Kendall. Erica was clearly happy for Kendall for doing something so noble for this child that she had just met. Jack was passive as usual and so was Lilly. But Reggie was the one who got Ursula's full and undivided attention. He had come in, said hi to her, and quickly scooped her up, gave her a juice box, some cheese crackers, and took her to his room to play "Dance, Dance Revolution." They had stayed until it was time to eat dinner and even took dessert to his room. Lilly declined joining them since Ursula kept jumping up and down, screaming and squealing so loudly that it made her head hurt.

Greenlee had gone to Jack and Erica's also, still trying to extend an olive branch. Kendall was aware that she was trying to make amends. Even though she had done so in her own twisted way, but Kendall wasn't going to let her apologize so easily.

Greenlee sat in the chair next to Kendall at the dinner table as everyone made idle small talk. There was really nothing that needed to be said. Desperate for interesting conversation, Greenlee bought up Zach and how Ursula came to be in Pine Valley, mentioning how Ursula's father was dead, how everyone had been looking for her, and how she turned up in a suitcase. Everyone got quiet. Kendall closed her eyes and willed herself not to scream or cry in front of Ursula. She looked up, glad that she sat playing with her peas and potatoes while she quietly sang "Over the Rainbow," and not understanding what had just been said. There was so much tension between Kendall and Greenlee at that moment, it made everyone else uncomfortable. Erica piped in quickly commenting on how Ursula knew all the words to one of her favorite songs, asking Kendall who taught her, and Reggie and Jack jumped in and agreeing.

Kendall turned and simply glared at Greenlee. Then she quietly whispered that however Ursula got there, it was certainly none of her business.

------

Kendall waved back at Ursula from across the room, and watched as Zach sat her on the edge of the piano as Misha began to play, and people started to gather around. She started playing "Over the Rainbow." Kendall walked a little closer, seeing how Ursula looked frightened, as she looked around noticing all the people watching and smiling at her, and then Zach got her to look at him.

Kendall could see his lips moving as he quietly spoke to Ursula while she played with his tie. Kendall watched his eyebrows raise and he opened his mouth as if he were going to sing when she heard Ursula's baby-like flow through the room.

Kendall thought when she would hear Zach and Ursula singing that song every evening as he put her to bed, she would get tired of hearing it. But now, it had become her favorite song, only if Ursula sang it.

Kendall started to walk toward Zach and Ursula again when Jackson stopped her, needing to speak to her about and urgent matter. Kendall led him over to the bar and took a seat while he opened a large manila envelope, dumping the contents on to the top of the bar.

"Your petition for adoption was denied," Jackson said to Kendall. Those were words she never expected to hear. She looked up, and across the room, she and Jackson watched as Ursula sang," If happy little bluebirds fly-- Beyond the rainbow-- Why, oh why can't I?" and Zach quickly picked her up, kissing her all over her face as she giggled and hugged him back, and onlookers smiled and applauded.

"Jack, I can't tell him that," Kendall said grabbing his arm, "I won't. He loves her so much, and so do I."

"There we will file an appeal, but-," Jackson said.

"What's the problem Jack?" Kendall asked, "If it's money, or, or-"

"It's the Brazilian government. In a nutshell, your past histories are too sketchy, very questionable for their liking. I can work that out, clear things up. But-" Jack pulled out a paper with all sorts of marks all over it, "They say that her mother has demanded to have her back."

"Her mother is dead!" Kendall said glancing toward Zach and Ursula then back at Jack.

"You and Zach are going to need more help than I can give you with this matter Kendall."

"Fine, we'll hire an attorney who specializes in these sorts of cases-"

"Kendall, they want Ursula back in Brazil now."

"No, I won't have it," Kendall said putting her hands on her hips, "Whoever that woman is, she is lying, get a DNA test, I don't care!"

"Kendall, their representatives called this morning. I filed an injunction as soon as I got off the phone with them-"

"She is mine, Jack," Kendall insisted, "That woman, whoever she is, she can't have her!"

"Well, you should know that they are already here, in Pine Valley… to take Ursula back to Brazil today, if they show up-"

Kendall shook her head, and she and Jack looked up in time to see officers approach Zach. Three of them had to hold Zach as a woman pried Ursula out of his arms, while she desperately tried to cling to him with everything she had. The patrons watched in horror as Zach yelled for them to bring her back, and the three men forcefully held onto him. Everyone watched helplessly as Ursula was carried away, screaming and crying.


End file.
